Demonic Love
by YuriBluflame
Summary: (High School AU. Eventual SakuHina.) When new transfer student, Haruno Sakura, joins her class at Konoha High, the school life of one Hyūga Hinata would never be the same again.
1. The New Transfer Student

**Hey and welcome to the start of my Demonic Love series. This story was originally one of my original stories with OC characters. Which means that some characters here may be a little (or largely) OCC. So I apologise for that, but like I said this was my original story not meant for fanfiction, and I didn't want to rewrite the entire thing so I just changed a few things. I also want to mention that I gave Tenten a last name in this story but I'll try and not use it as much.**

 **So anyway without further waiting, here is the first chapter of episode 1. Enjoy.**

* * *

In the middle of July, the setting sun had now risen up and was hanging over the city of Konohagakure. At this time of day, husbands where leaving their houses for work as their wives, sometimes their children, saw them out the door, wishing them to have a good day. Middle and high schoolers were also making their way to school whilst happily talking to their friends.

But during this time of day, there was one high school student who was still sleeping. Even though her alarm clock had been going off a quite few times now.

In the Hyuga household, the raven haired girl, Hyuga Hinata was sleeping soundly in bed, enjoying it's warmth (even though it was summer now). That was until the sound of her alarm shattered that blissful moment, making the once quiet room loud. A hand then appeared from within the covers, a groan coming with it and it began to wave frantically into the air, trying to find the source of the sound but got nothing but air instead.

After a few seconds of hitting nothing, Hinata finally found the alarm clock that was on her bedside table and turned it off, making the loud room quiet once more and returned her hand underneath the covers. But unfortunately, for the ravenette, as her hand went back in, the alarm clock went off again. With another groan she reached out again, turning off the annoying sound and retracted her hand back into the warm covers. Not soon after she did, the alarm clock suddenly started to ring again, and Hinata quickly turned it off.

This continued to happen again. And again. And again, the alarm clock refusing to let the ravenette get any more sleep.

While Hinata and the alarm clock were battling it out, the sound of footsteps could be heard from behind the door. In the next moment it flew open, and a girl with a summer uniform,with brown hair tied into two buns, came inside the ravenette's room.

The brunette was Hinata's childhood friend, Hiramatsu Tenten, and she would always come to Hinata's house to check up on her and make she she was awake, just in case she looked like she was going to be late (which was most of the time).

"Hey Hinata, it's time to get up!" Tenten shouted, coming through the bedroom door. "Come on and get up before we're..."

Tenten stopped her sentence mid-way and just stared at the spectacle in front of her, a confused expression on her face. She was seeing her best friend waging war against her alarm clock. The brunette just sighed as the scene in front of her continued to play out. "Not again," the girl muttered under her breath and started to walk up to the bed. _How many times does this make it now?_

As she got to the bed's side, the scrambling duo were still at it, and by the look of things it wasn't going to stop any time soon. Finally having enough, Tenten grabbed the alarm clock and turned it off properly, ending Hinata's struggle.

"Now with that taken care of," the brunette spoke to herself, dealing with the small problem. Tenten then looked at the girl under the covers, who seemed to be fast asleep again. _Now for the big problem._ Setting the clock down, Tenten went up to Hinata and put her hands on her friends body, shaking her. "Come on Hinata, wake up."

Tenten stopped shaking her friend and waited. But the response that she received in return was a groan, and the sound of Hinata trying to get herself more comfortable, which wasn't the reaction Tenten wanted. The brunette's eye began to twitch, a forced smile forming on her lips. Since it looked like that the ravenette wasn't going to get up any time soon, the bun headed girl decided to use her last resort.

Grabbing the girl's covers, Tenten decided to do the old table cloth trick, which was when you pulled the cloth off of a table, all items on it would remain in place. But the brunette planned for the opposite effect.

"Good morning..." Tenten greeted her friend with an evil smile, and then pulled the quilt. "Hinata!"

With one great big pull, Tenten's plan took effect. The ravenette started to roll with the covers, fall off the bed and landed on the floor face first with a giant thud. The groan that was moaning for more sleep, had turned into a moan of pain.

* * *

Walking along the concrete path, Tenten and the now awakened Hinata, where making their way towards their school, Konoha High for girls. The raven haired girl was rubbing her still red face from the collision with her bedroom floor. She looked to her friend, whom looked as if nothing had ever happened.

"What you did was very mean Tenten," Hinata complained to the brown haired girl.

"What was?" Tenten replied, playing innocent.

"You know exactly what I mean. That's the first time I've been woken up like that."

Tenten just let out a sigh and turned to her friend. "It's your fault Hinata," she stated. "No matter how much I shook you, you wouldn't wake up. Heck, even your alarm clock was loud and even that didn't do the job!" When Tenten voiced that, the ravenette gave the brunette a confused look.

"It went off?"

"Yes, it did," Tenten replied. _Multiple times, and the fact that you were fighting the damn thing_ was what the brunette wanted to add, but kept that part to herself. She knew the ravenette would have no recollection of what happened, and it would go completely over her head.

"I wonder why I didn't hear it?" Hinata asked out loud to herself.

"Beats me," Tenten gave out a quick reply.

Thanks to the pair chatting to one another, they got to their destination a lot faster without them realising it. In front of them stood one of Konohagakure's schools: Konoha High for girls, the only girl's school in the city.

Once the girl's went past the gate, got to the shoe lockers and exchanged their out door shoes for shoe-like slippers, they made there way to the second floor and to their classroom labelled 2-B. As they entered the room, the first thing both girl's heard was the excitement in their classmates voices as they spoke to each other. Tenten found it strange. The girl's in her class would happily chat to one another to begin with, but right now what she was seeing was on another scale. _What's going on?_ Tenten thought, she and Hinata moving further into the room.

A classmate noticed the pair of girls making their way through and greeted them. "Good morning Hiramatsu-san, Hyuga-san."

"Good morning," they both replied back, Hinata's greeting being joyful, whilst Tenten's was in monotone, still thinking. The brunette wasn't getting anywhere however and decided to ask the girl what was bothering her. "What's with all the fuss?"

"You haven't heard?" another girl joined in on the conversation.

"Heard what?" Hinata replied.

"A transfer student is coming to this class!" the girl squealed in excitement. "I wonder what she's going to be like?"

"Transfer student...?" Hinata and Tenten said in unison. The brunette found it strange that a new girl was transferring now, when they were two weeks away from summer break. Also the end of semester exams were fast approaching as well. Whoever this new girl was, was going to have her hands full.

The door to the classroom slid open and a man, wearing a surgical mask on his face, came into the room. He was class 2-B's homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi. "Alright everyone, take your seats," he said in a laid back tone.

With those words, all the girl's that were talking excitedly at one point, quickly made their way back to their seats, Hinata and Tenten included. The ravenette's seat was at the window isle at the back, whilst Tenten's was at the seat diagonally in front of hers. As Hinata was making her way, she noticed that there was a spare desk and chair behind her's, which wasn't there before. _There really is a transfer coming in today_ Hinata thought to herself, before she sat down at her own desk.

When everyone was finally seated, Kakashi made his way to the podium and when he stood there he gazed around the class, his right eye looking the girl's facial expressions while his left remained closed.

Hinata always wondered what was underneath that closed eye lid. In fact, his hidden eye was one of the seven wonders of Konoha High. Some of the girl's had said that there was no eye, it was just an empty socket. That he lost it during a fight with ten big muscled men, which he beat all by himself.

Hinata didn't believe it one bit however. She just thought that he liked to have that eye shut. The reason? She didn't know.

When Kakashi was satisfied that everyone had sat down, he took the student register from under his arm and opened it with one hand, the other was in the pocket of his jacket. "Now then. Let's see who's in," he said and then began reading each name out loud.

After all the names were called out, the white haired man snapped the book shut and placed it on the pedestal in front of him. "Now with that out of the way, I think it's time to announce what you've all been waiting for." The girls in the classroom were all ears at this point. After all, this was what they were waiting for. "As you've all probably heard, there will be a new girl joining this class." At this the girl's got even more excited, but they tried there best not to make it too obvious.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Kakashi felt like it was time. Turning his head toward the door the homeroom teacher told whoever was outside to come in. After a long pause, the door to the room slowly opened and from it, the girl everyone had been waiting for, came through it.

When the new transfer student, whom everyone was excited about, walked inside, the excitement the girl's had on the faces completely changed into shock. The transfer girl had pink, shoulder length hair and her right eye was light green coloured, like an emerald. The left however was probably the reason why the girl's were shocked. The transfer's left eye was covered in gauze wrapping and what was even more shocking was the fact, thanks to the summer uniform she was wearing, her left arm was, too, wrapped up in gauze.

Nobody would say it, but the all the girl's thoughts were near enough the same. The pink haired girl had looked like she had been in a terrible accident and the emerald coloured eye showing gave out a slightly cold glare so they didn't stare for too long.

Kakashi, either being oblivious or not caring about the atmosphere turning sour, spoke to the pinkette in a laid back tone. "Alright then. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" he asked her, and in response, the transfer gazed at the white haired man before she turned around. Picking up the chalk, she started to write on the blackboard, and when she was done, the pink haired girl put the chalk down and turned to face her classmates, the glare still present in her emerald orb.

Written behind her was her name.

"My name is Haruno Sakura,"the pinkette introduced herself in a cold manner. "I'm sixteen years old." And that was all the girl named Sakura said for her introduction and everyone looked even more nervous than before.

Probably sensing that the pink haired girl wasn't going to say anything else, the white haired man decided to speak up. "Now wasn't that a simple introduction," Kakashi said, trying to brighten up the mood in his own way. It didn't work however. Sighing, Kakashi turned his gaze toward Hinata's direction, and called out to the ravenette, who had kept her eyes on the emerald eyed girl. "Hyuga-san!"

Hearing her name shouted suddenly, Hinata quickly stood up. All eyes, including the transfer's, was on the raven haired girl. "Yes!" she replied loudly.

The one-eyed homeroom teacher turned his gaze back to the girl next to him. "This is Hyuga Hinata, our class representative," he said, pointing to the girl standing up. "If you have any questions or if there is something you don't understand, don't hesitate to talk to Hyuga-san. Now then, your desk is behind her's."

Kakashi then pointed to the desk behind Hinata's, and Sakura, having confirmed her seat, started to make her way towards it, the other girl's in the class watching her every move.

When the pinkette was near her desk, Hinata called out to her. "Um... Haruno-san..." The one, emerald eyed girl stopped next to the ravenette's desk and looked at the class rep. "Like Kakashi-sensei said, my name is Hyuga Hinata," the she introduced herself again. "It's very nice to meet you. I hope that we can become friends."

Hinata gave Sakura a gentle smile and extended her hand for a handshake. The pinkette stared at the hand that was being offered to her, closed her eye after a moment, and with a "Hmph" escaping her lips, walked past Hinata, and sat down at her assigned desk.

Hinata, feeling dejected after that rejection, lowered her arm and slumped back onto her seat. Everyone, who had watched the little scene between the girl's, turned back to the front, except for Tenten, who continued to look at the crestfallen Hinata and clenching her teeth, the brunette sent a nasty glare to the transfer student.

"Now with all the excitement taking care of," Kakashi spoke once more. "Let's start homeroom shall we?"


	2. The Life Changing Event

**I apologise for any repetitive words or sentences in this chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Fourth period comes and goes as the school bell rang, signalling the beginning of lunch. Some of the girl's in class had started to fan out, heading to the cafeteria with some of their friends, while the other girl's got their boxed lunches out from their bags and sat with their friends. They would also drag a few desks together so they could make a bigger one. All but one student was doing this however.

From her desk, Hinata turned her head and looked behind herself. She saw the new member of her class, packing her new textbooks and other things away in her school bag. Many times, during their small breaks in between classes, the ravenette would try her best to talk to the pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura. But every time she did, the pinkette would either ignore her completely or she would just leave the classroom and not come back until the lesson was about to begin.

Even some of the other girls who tried to talk and get to know the emerald-eyed girl were given a cold glare in return. They didn't have the courage to try again after that and left her alone.

But, unlike them, no matter how many times she would get rejected, Hinata didn't give up and she wasn't going to any time soon. With determination, Hinata took a deep breath and exhaled, calming herself down and then nodded her head once. She stood up from her desk and made her way to Sakura's, who was still packing silently. "Um... Haruno-san..." next to the pinkette's desk, she called out to her timidly.

Hearing her name being said, the pink haired girl looked up toward the person who was speaking to her, only to find the girl who has been constantly trying to talk to her standing next to her desk. Sakura gave the ravenette one of her cold glares, but she continued to speak regardless.

"I was wondering..." she began. "Do you want to-"

Sakura must of anticipated on what Hinata was going to ask her, as the pink haired girl abruptly stood up from her seat, the sound of the chair scraping the floor cutting off Hinata mid-sentence. "Haruno-san?" Sakura's name escaped the raven haired girl's lips as the gauzed wrapped girl grabbed her bag and walked past Hinata, heading for the classroom door.

After passing the ravenette, Sakura only got only took two steps before she had to stop again. This time another girl had stepped in front of her, glaring at the one-eyed girl with pure anger in her eyes. That girl being Hiramatsu Tenten.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tenten demanded to know, venom clearly lacing her voice.

"Tenten!" cried Hinata, surprised at what her childhood friend was doing.

"What gives you the right to treat people, who are trying to be nice and friendly to you, like a piece of garbage?"

For a while, the two girl's stood there in silence. All the girls that were inside the classroom had now noticed the scene between Tenten and Sakura and were now waiting in baited breath, wondering what was going to happen next.

Tenten's eyes never wavered from the pinkette's right emerald eye. It had only been half a day so far and the brunette already hated the girl in front of her. It was bad when the pink haired girl was ignoring the other girls trying to be nice to her, but what pissed off Tenten more than anything, was that it was happening to Hinata too. At that point, the brunette wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

The silence between them was soon shattered by Sakura, who, instead of answering Tenten's question, just closed her eye and smirked. With that smug smile clear on the pink haired girl's face, Tenten snapped. The brunette closed whatever gap there was between her and the pinkette, grabbed the collar of her uniform and stared right into the one-eyed girl's eye.

"You bitch," Tenten spoke through gritted teeth. The ravenette shouted out the brunette's name again, surprised of her actions but she was too angry to care any more. "Everybody who has been trying to talk to you, to try and be friendly with you, are now too scared come near you and have given up completely." Tenten narrowed her eyes slightly but the other girl's expression hadn't changed. "But Hinata is different," she continued. "Even though you keep giving her the cold shoulder and glare at her, not once has she stopped trying her best to befriend you."

"Tenten..." Hinata whispered.

"That girl is trying her damn hardest to open up and to become friends with someone as cold as you," she carried on. "Can't you understand her feelings at all?"

Having said what she wanted to say, Tenten waited and stared at the emotionless Sakura, hoping for some kind of reaction. Only a few seconds went by, but for the other girls it felt like an eternity and then finally, Sakura's gaze turned into an icy glare.

"So...?" was all she said.

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise for a split second, before they narrowed. That one word made her blood boil, her free hand closing into a white knuckled fist. "You... cold hearted..." Tenten said slowly, her anger reaching it's breaking point. "BITCH!"

The brunette cocked her fist back, ready to punch Sakura with everything she had. But seeing the situation and the danger it that could come from it, Hinata took action. She quickly removed Tenten's grip from the pinkette's collar and got in between the pair of girls, her arms spreading to the side, protecting the pink haired transfer. ""That's enough Tenten!" Hinata pleaded to her friend.

"Hinata...?" the brunette spoke in bewilderment. Shocked to see what her best friend was doing. "But...!"

"It's alright Tenten," the ravenette said reassuringly. "You understood my feelings and I'm very grateful. Thank you Tenten."

Hinata gave Tenten an innocent and sincere smile, and not being able to look at, the brunette turned her gaze to the floor and unclenched her fist, returning to it's original colour. Satisfied, the raven haired girl turned on her heel, facing the other girl who still wore the same expression from before. "I'm very sorry, Haruno-san," Hinata apologised to her. "Please forgive Tenten. She didn't mean for it to go that far and she was only doing that for my sake. So please forgive her!"

Hinata then lowered her head in apology, this time surprising Tenten as she whispered her name. Sakura just stared at the raven haired girl who was bowing before her and after a few seconds, she let out an exhausted sigh. "Very well," she said.

Hearing the words that she had hoped for, Hinata raised her head and looked at Sakura once more with a bright, innocent smile. "Thank you very much, Haruno-san!" she said joyfully. For just a moment, the pinkette's expressionless mask broke, a look of surprise gracing her features but it soon quickly reverted back. With a "Hmph" from Sakura, the pink haired girl walk past the two girl's and left through the door of the classroom.

* * *

After the little incident from the classroom, Hinata thought it best to go and get some fresh air, so she decided to head to the roof, Tenten in tow, and eat her lunch there. As the duo were eating, Hinata could tell that the brunette was still in a mood from what happened before, but she decided not to say anything about it.

"Damn that Haruno," Tenten complained, picking up a sausage octopus with her chopsticks and stuffing it in her mouth. "Acting like she was all and important. I bet she was born in a rich life style. No wonder she acts all snobby."

"You're wrong, Tenten," stated Hinata, putting whatever she was holding with her chopsticks, back in her lunch box. "I think she's just lonely. She's pushing everyone away so that she and probably everyone else doesn't get hurt."

"Huh?" Tenten looked at Hinata like she had grown a new head. "What make you so sure of that?"

"Her eye," she replied, thinking back. She wondered how she missed it the first time. When the ravenette stood in front of the pink haired girl, she saw everything in that eye. Sadness. Pain. Anger. There was so many emotions going through that quick glance, that Hinata wondered what had happened to the girl to make her like that.

"Her... eye...?" Tenten repeated. She thought for a moment, but soon gave up and she then just shrugged her shoulders. "Well it's none of my business anyway."

The ravenette nodded absent mindedly and the two girl continued to eat their lunches in silence, the sound of distant traffic and other schoolgirls serving as background noise.

* * *

After what happened in the classroom during lunch, Hinata decided to not approach Sakura for the rest of the day and Tenten agreed, reluctantly, to not say anything bad about the girl either. And with that, the slow school day finally came to an end.

When home room finished, Tenten had Naginata club to go to so she and Hinata parted ways and the ravenette started making her way to the shoe lockers. As she got to the lockers, Hinata noticed Sakura was in the middle of putting her out door shoes on and putting her shoe-like slippers back in her new locker.

Seeing the pinkette, Hinata really had the urge to go up to her and say a simple good bye, but when the memory of what happened at lunch came to her mind, she stopped the words that were threatening to come out of her throat. By then, Sakura had left through the doors and when she did, the ravenette let out a sigh. She then went to her shoe locker, replaced her slippers for her shoes and, too, headed out giving her goodbyes to anyone she knew along the way.

On the way home, Hinata made her way to the convenience store and bought herself some ingredients for dinner before heading for her part-time as a waitress for a café. She hoped work would cheer her up after her failed attempt of befriending her new classmate.

Considering that it was summer time, the sun had begun to set and soon, night filled the sky above. Hinata walked along the familiar path that she had taken this morning, before deciding to take a short cut down an alleyway. She soon started hearing footsteps coming from behind her and found it strange. _Am I being followed?_ she wondered but then thought other wise. _No way. I'm just imagining things. Their just probably going the same direction as me until the corner, then they'll turn the opposite direction._

But her thoughts were completely wrong.

As she turned a corner, the footsteps, that she thought would go the other direction, continued behind her, and Hinata was starting to get a little worried. She decided to move a little faster and picked up her pace, but so did the person chasing her and after a few seconds of walking like this, with no indication that the person behind the ravenette was going to stop, Hinata had now become scared. And having come to that emotion, the raven haired girl ran.

Sprinting as much as her legs could take her, turning multiple corners and other short alleyways, leading nowhere near her house, the footsteps that were behind her had lessened up to the point that Hinata could no longer hear them. While running, the ravenette took the risk of looking behind her and saw that there was no one there. She felt utterly relieved and turned her attention back to the front, only to see a woman, in an expensive looking business suit, walking round from the corner.

Even when she tried to slow down, Hinata was still going too fast to stop and she couldn't dodge the woman either, which then resulted in the ravenette bumping into the other woman. Hinata nearly fell backwards upon impact, but thankfully a pair of hands had grasped her shoulders, stopping her from falling. "My, my," Hinata realized that it was the woman she had bumped into that stopped her fall. "What's the matter dear, why the rush?" the woman asked, looking slightly concerned.

"There was... someone... chasing me..." Hinata said in between breaths, trying to get it under control. "But I think... they gave up."

"You poor thing," the woman said in a sympathetic tone. "Girl's like you shouldn't really be out when it's this dark. Do you want me to accompany you home?"

Hinata shook her head at the woman. The idea was very thoughtful but she didn't want to cause the woman any more trouble and wanted to get home as soon as possible so she could forget all about it. "Thank you very much for the offer." she told the business woman. "But I'll be alright once I get to a crowded street. So please excuse me."

Having said that, Hinata made her way to leave. Or rather she tried to. The woman's hands were still on the ravenette's shoulders, refusing to let her move. "Um... Excuse me, miss?" Hinata called out timidly. For some reason she had a really bad feeling. "Like I said before, I'll be fine."

"Oh, but you see dear you're not," the woman spoke, the concerned voice from before no longer there. "Hi-na-ta-chan."

When the woman playfully said the raven haired girl's name, Hinata's eyes widened like saucers and a cold sweat started to go down her back. "H-How do you know my name?" she asked, her voice starting to crack from how scared she really was.

The woman grinned at the raven haired girl with a wicked smile, the gentle smile having been replaced. "We've been watching you for a while now Hinata-chan," the woman said, turning her gaze from Hinata, to what was behind her. "Isn't that right, my pet?"

Those words made Hinata's blood go cold, her fear increasing ten fold as she turned her head to look behind her. The ravenette's fear came true when she saw a man (her instincts telling her that it was the same person that had been chasing her before) wearing a plain suit, a creepy smile plastered on his face. "That's right," the creepy man said, licking his lips." ...Master."

The man began to cackle and in that moment, Hinata witnessed something that would probably stay in her mind for the rest of her life. The man's skin started to turn black, darker than the night itself and the pupil's of his eyes vanished as the white of his eyes became blood red. His plain suit then begun to rip open from the back, as his muscles started to grow and bulge up, his veins practically sticking out of his darkened skin. And then finally his pants were torn off as well, his lower body starting to grow in length and many legs started to sprout out, causing the man, turned spider-like creature, to grow taller, making Hinata look up.

Finished with his (or it's) transformation into a spider-like monster, the woman that was holding Hinata in place, began to chuckle to herself, causing the ravenette to turn her fearful gaze back to her. "Now then. I think it's my turn," she said and then she, too, started to change.

Like the man, the woman's skin changed colour as well, but unlike his, her skin became a reddish-pink colour. A horn had started to appear from the right side of the woman's forehead, her bangs growing longer, covering half of her face and the white in the woman's eyes became black, the pupils turning white. The woman's transformation wasn't as horrific as the man's was but it still sent fear down the ravenette's spine and the grip on her shoulder's had gotten a lot stronger than they did before.

At this point, having seen two people transform into monsters, Hinata's fear had reached it's limit. Now, she did the only thing a teenage girl would do in her situation. She screamed. The raven haired girl let out a high pitched scream from the top of her lungs, dropped the bag of ingredients she was carrying and began to struggle within the woman's grasp, trying her hardest to escape.

"Let go of me!" Hinata cried, having trouble with the woman's hardened grip.

But no matter how hard she tried, Hinata couldn't brake free. The demonic woman's grip was far too strong and she had begun to laugh wickedly at the ravenette's useless attempts of escape. But the demon's laugh, however, got cut short as Hinata bit down hard on one of the arms holding her. The reddish-pink woman screamed, cursing outwardly from the pain. And as she did, the grip on the raven haired girl's shoulders slackened and Hinata took this opportunity, braking free from the woman's clutches and ran past her.

The woman, realizing that her prey was escaping, gritted her teeth and looked at the runaway girl with murderous eyes. "Where do you think you're going..." she said through clenched teeth. "You little Bitch!" Cocking her arm back, she thrusted it forward and as she did, her reddish-pink arm extended, approaching the fleeing raven haired girl and grabbed her ankle, causing Hinata to trip and fall on the hard concrete floor. With her prey now in her grasp once more, the demonic woman began to chuckle under her breath, her arm retracting and dragging Hinata with it.

The ravenette looked back as she was being dragged and noticed that the man-spider was releasing blades from the top of it's wrists, scraping them together with anticipation. Hinata was now that much afraid, her voice got caught in her throat and tears had started to form and fall from her eyes. "Someone... please... help me..." she said in a very quiet voice, slowly getting closer and closer to her demise. "Help me... please..."

This was it. This was how Hinata was going to die and she couldn't believe it. Weren't you supposed to die a normal death? Finish school. Get a job. Find Love. Have children and a family. Watch the children have their own and after that, finally die of old age. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be? That's how Hinata wanted it to be, but she wouldn't be able to get that now. The ravenette closed her eyes, the tears continuing to pour down her cheeks and waited for the inevitable to happen.

But, as she waited for her death, her childhood friend, Tenten, suddenly appeared in her mind. _Tenten..._ Then the other girl's in her class, her friends, flooded her mind too. _Everyone..._ Then finally, a girl with pink hair and a cold emerald eye staring at her, flashed in her mind also. _Haruno-san..._ The ravenette's eyes then shot open, sudden realization hitting her. _That's right_ she said in her thoughts. _I can't die yet. There are things that I still need to do!_

Hinata then finally found her voice again and as she was getting closer and closer to the pair of monsters, and to her death, she screamed her final words from the top of her lungs. "Someone please help me!" And as if the her prayers were answered, the ravenette felt herself stop.

Curiously she looked up, and saw that a hand, had reached out and grabbed the outstretched reddish-pink arm that had grasped Hinata's ankle. She thought it looked familiar, so when she looked up further she was surprised to see who her saviour was.

Her saviour had shoulder length pink hair, a black kimono with a cherry blossom petal design on them and wore a black divided umanori hakama. White split-toe sock and waraji sandals covered their feet. And a gauze wrapped hand was gripping the reddish-pink arm. Haruno Sakura. That was who was standing in between Hinata and the two demonic presenses and she was staring at the monsters, without fear, with her one emerald coloured eye.

And on that night, Hinata knew, deep down, that her normal school life would never be the same again.

* * *

 **Well that was a chapter O.o. I know. My descriptions suck but there you have it.**


	3. Hinata Attacked! Sakura vs The Demons

**If I had to choose an opening and ending for each of the chapters I write, then I'd choose these:  
** **Opening - Turn to you by Mashiro Ayano  
Ending - Passcode 4854 by Rei Yasuda  
These have probably already been taken, but I'd choose these regardless. Anyway back to the story. Enjoy.**

* * *

Haruno Sakura was standing firm and held on to the reddish-pink arm that had hold of the ravenette's ankle, as she stared down the two monsters before her. Hinata was still surprised to see her new classmate standing there in front of her eyes.

"Haruno-san..." Hinata mumbled the pink haired girl's name.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the girls, the reddish-pink woman furrowed her brow and glared daggers toward the new arrival who had spoiled their evening. "You little..." the woman growled angrily. "How dare you interrupt!" The one, emerald eyed girl continued to just stare at the demon that was talking and slowly, started to tighten her grasp around the demon's arm. The demon winced slightly. How did this girl have so much strength?

Sakura continued to squeeze the demon woman's arm harder and harder, easily telling that the demonic woman was hurting. She could even tell, from a distance, that the female demon was sweating abit and began to tug at her arm, trying to pull it out of the girl's grasp, but to no avail. When the pinkette squeezed even harder, the hand that held Hinata's ankle had let go. But even though it did, the one eyed girl refused to release the hold.

"You little wench," the demon growled again. How could there be a human this strong? It shouldn't be possible. "Let go!" The reddish-pink demon gritted her teeth angrily and upon seeing the demon struggle so much, a smirk appeared on the pink haired girl's face and then finally, she released her hold. But she did it so fast, the demon didn't have time to prepare as she fell backwards, onto her rear from pulling so hard, her arm retracting itself back in place.

Hinata would have thought what just happened to the demon would be slightly comical, but then she would only be kidding herself. The situation she was in was far from funny. But she wasn't as scared as she was a few minutes ago and was alot calmer. Hinata wondered why, but when she looked in front of her to where the girl in the black, cherry blossom designed, kimono was standing, she then understood.

Haruno Sakura was the reason. She was most likely glad that someone she knew (albeit barely) was there with her. Then that itself raised another question. "Haruno-san," the ravenette called out to her saviour. She didn't know if the other girl was listening but she continued regardless. "What are you doing here?"

"Hyuga Hinata," Sakura called to the girl laying on the floor. "Go home. You'll be in the way." Giving the raven haired girl a warning, Sakura began to walk towards the two monsters, her opponents. Hinata shouted the pinkette's name several times but the girl herself refused to listen and continued forward.

Seeing the pink haired girl walking towards them calmly, the demonic woman's brows knitted together. _So you think you're so tough?_ the demon wondered in her thoughts. _We'll see about that._ The horned demon turned her head to look at her servant. "Take care of her my pet," she ordered. "Show her why we should be feared."

The man-spider looked upon his master before nodding and with a sharp toothed grin, the spider demon charged at the approaching one-eyed girl. As the demon was making it's way, the man-spider raised it's bladed wrist and was ready to cut the girl, who was still walking calmly towards it, down. The demon finally roared and swung it's blade down with inhuman speed and seeing what was going to happen, Hinata made one final attempt and shouted out her classmates name. "Haruno-san!"

Just a split second before the sharp metal blade calved into Sakura's flesh, she stepped to the side and the blade had cut through the concrete were Sakura was standing a moment ago. Everyone was surprised (amazed in Hinata's case) at how fast the pink haired girl was at dodging the attack, the man-spider, at this point, was trying to get it's blade out from the ground. But there was no luck. It had used too much strength and speed, and now the blade was stuck, quite deep, into the hardened floor.

Sakura looked at the struggling demon in front of her with a neutral expression. She didn't really feel any pity for it. While the demon tried to get it's blade free from it's concrete prison, the pinkette used the opportunity and cocking back her gauze wrapped fist and pushing it forward, she punched the metal blade.

The blade's metal had started to crack from the impact of Sakura's fist, and in a matter of seconds, the blade was snapped in half, the demon spider-man starting to stagger backwards. The man-spider tried it's best to regain it's balance but Sakura wouldn't let him have the chance. The pinkette quickly grabbed the other half of the blade that was stuck in the floor, pulling it out with ease and with experienced hands, the pink haired girl threw the blade. It's target: the demon's chest.

The tip of the metal blade pierced the man-spider's chest, it's pupil-less eyes widening like saucers. But unfortunately for the demon, Sakura wasn't finished yet. With the blade now in the demon, the pinkette jumped up, high into the air, twisted her body around and kicked the blade even deeper into the demon spider's chest.

 _Amazing_ Hinata thought. She couldn't believe her eyes at how much strength her new classmate had. The man-spider was sent flying backwards from the kick, flying past the demonic woman, and hit a street lamp, bending it from it's landing. The female demon looked, wide eyed, at her partner as it groaned in pain. The man-spider then looked up, meeting the female demon's gaze and slowly reached it's black hand out. "Master..." was all it said before it turned into black mist and was evaporated into the air, vanishing in the night sky.

Watching her partner vanish into thin air, the demon woman's vision began to go red. She started to shake in anger, blades,much like the man-spider's, came out from the top of her wrists. "I'll... kill... you..." the woman whispered at first, clenching her sharpened teeth and whipping her head around, staring daggers at the pink haired girl with the emotionless face. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

The demonic woman charged at her partner's killer recklessly in rage, whilst the one-eyed girl remained still, and watched her opponent come at her. The reddish-pink demon swung her bladed arms wildly at the other girl with inhuman speed,but the emerald eyed girl dodged the first attack with relative ease. The demon thought it was luck that she dodged the first strike so she went in for another, but again she missed. She continued to swing her arms again, and again, but still got the same result. _How!?_ she screamed in her thoughts. _How is she able to avoid my attacks!?_

After a few more unsuccessful swings, the demon knew then that she wasn't getting anywhere, and the girl in front of her was starting to get on her nerves. All of a sudden, a thought came to her mind. _Time for a change of tactics_. Intentionally, the demon woman swung her bladed arm in a downwards arc and that forced the pink haired girl to side step out of the way, causing a the demonic woman's lips to curve.

Sakura didn't miss the smile that had plagued her opponents lips and and that was when she realized her mistake. Not missing a beat, the demon woman shot past Sakura, the pinkette turning her head to follow where the demon was going. _Shit!_ Sakura cursed in her thoughts. The reddish-pink woman was heading straight for the ravenette who, even though the pinkette told her specifically to leave, was stilling sitting on the concrete floor, with fear in her eyes, as the demon approached her.

When she saw the monster coming her way, Hinata was too frightened to move. She remained sitting on the floor as the woman approached her, her blades gleaming in the moonlight. "Hinata-chan..." the demon woman called the ravenette's name, raising her blade, "DIE!" and with a scream, swung down her blade when she closed in.

Time seemed to slow down at that point for Hinata, the blade looked like it was going in slow motion as it made it's way toward her. But at the last possible second, just as the blade was about to meet Hinata's flesh, black clad clothing with cherry blossom petals came into Hinata's line of sight.

Somehow, Sakura was able to get in front of her raven haired classmate, raising her gauzed wrapped arm to block the incoming blade. The blade's steel struck her arm but the injury wasn't serious. The gauze, which was wrapped around her arm, had been cut and slowly, it started to unwrap itself, hitting the floor below.

The demon woman began to breathe heavily. The adrenaline rush of anger she had, had now turned into fatigue, as she stared at the one she had struck, a grin forming on her pink lips. Unfortunately, her original target was blocked, but she was happy at the thought that she had finally struck a blow against the pink haired girl who was too confident with herself. She didn't seem to care that the girl managed to get in front of her with inhuman speed. All she cared about was the fact that the girl could bleed and get hurt like everybody else.

At the corner of her eye, she noticed something falling to the floor and when she looked down, she saw that it was white cloth. It probably came from the one-eyed girl in front of her. Looking back up, the demon's eyes widened, her white pupils getting smaller. The pink haired girl's arm, which was hidden behind the gauze wrapping, to the demon, was defiantly not human. The arm itself was human shaped, but it was the blackest of reds she had ever seen, almost like it had been burnt from a wild fire. "Who are you...?" she couldn't help but ask.

Sakura narrowed her eyes into a icy glare. "Ha...runo...san..." and when the voice of Hinata called out, the pinkette cursed inwardly. It couldn't be any worse than revealing who she was, especially in front of one of her school peers. But she had no choice now. Not answering the demon woman's question, Sakura proceeded to remove the bandage around her left eye and like the arm's it, too, fell on the floor.

If the demon was surprised about the girl's arm, she was even more surprised about what was behind the eye that was hidden. Her left eye was a golden-yellow colour, the black pupil of the eye that would normally be there, was replaced with a sharp, thin black line, something similar to a cats eye, and four black, tomoe marks were next to the cat-like eye, two on each side.

The demon woman was shocked at what she saw, but Sakura was going to make sure that was the last surprised expression she made. She reached out, pointing her arm to the side, and then suddenly her left arm was engulfed in black flames.

Hinata, having finally gotten over her initial shock of the truth about the pinkette's arm, looked on worried as the pink haired girl's arm suddenly combusted. But she didn't worry for long as the black flames started to leave the girl's arm and begun to take shape in front of the palm of her hand. The ravenette watched Sakura as she wrapped her fingers around the black flamed shape, and as she did, the flames dissipated, leaving a weapon, a scythe to be exact, in it's place. But the scythe she was holding wasn't an ordinary one Hinata would see in farming. This one looked more threatening.

The polearm was long, longer than the girl's height, and intimidating. The rod itself was tall and thin, made of silver metal cold to the touch. The blade was long and curved, the tip sharp. It was rimmed with white that glinted in the moonlight, with a dark blue tint. The dual side of the blade was short, resembling in a way a small, yet deadly sharp, knife. The scythe itself made her the very picture of impending doom and destruction.

Sakura begun to twirl the massive weapon over head with ease, like it weighed nothing at all. She then swung the scythe to her side and immediately lunged at the demonic woman standing before her. With just her left hand, she swung the deadly blade diagonally, trying to cut the demon in two, but the reddish-pink woman managed to block the move with her blades at the last second. The pinkette could hear the demon grunt from the attack, but unfortunately for said demon, it was far from over.

Horizontal, diagonal, and vertical slices, Sakura barraged her opponent with attacks with incredible speed and accuracy, the demonic woman still managing to somehow block or dodge the incoming blows, albeit barely. After her last swing of her scythe, the pink haired girl jumped into the air, twirled her body and kicked the pink demon, whom blocked the kick with her blades but was sent skidding backwards, a few feet away from the girls.

Coming to a stop, the demon started to breathe heavily, sweat slowly beginning to pour down her face from her brow. The pink haired girl, again, twirled her polearmed blade and lowered it, her expression remaining the same. "You little runt..." the demonic woman growled, her anger only rising even more. She couldn't understand how the girl in front of her was able to push her back. The pinkette didn't even look remotely tired at all. How was it even possible?!

"What the hell are you!?" The pink haired girl, who the demon only knows as Haruno as Hinata said, just stared at the reddish-pink demon. The expressionless mask was really starting to get on her nerves. "You're not human," she continued. "From the looks of your arm, your eye and the fact that you can summon a weapon like that shows as much. Are you a demon?"

Sakura looked at the demon for a moment. She didn't feel obligated to say anything about herself to her opponent, but since the creature was going to die by her hands, the pinkette thought she might as well humour her. "That's partly right," Sakura answered. "I'm a demon. But I'm a human as well. You could call me a half blood."

"Half... blood..." the woman repeated. After those words, Sakura charged at her opponent once more, ending the conversation, between them, there. Seeing the pinkette filling the gap between them quickly, the demon woman knew that she was in no condition to fight. The girl might be a half-blood, but she was extremely strong and skilled, even though the demon hated to admit it herself. The demonic woman decided to retract her blades and used whatever strength she had left to back flip away from the girl's incoming scythe attack.

Landing safely far away, the demon looked upon the other demon girl with anger and disgust. "As much as I want to, killing you will have to wait," she spoke, venom lacing her voice. "But mark my words. I'll kill you when we next meet. Then I'll go after Hinata-chan." A pool of darkness appeared beneath the demon and she slowly started to descend into the floor.

Sakura just remained still, watching the demon leave, and once she was gone everything went silent. The battle had come to an end... for now.

* * *

Hours later, back at the Hyuga residence, Hinata was laying in bed and was staring at her bedroom's ceiling. She couldn't get to sleep, even when she closed her eyes and tried, her thoughts were too occupied by the days events, specifically tonight's.

 _After the reddish-pink monster, that had attacked Hinata, disappeared into some kind of pool of darkness, Sakura let out an exhausted sigh and the huge scythe, that the ravenette saw being summoned by her classmate, had combusted into flames and disappeared. The pink haired girl then twisted her head so she was looking over her shoulder, gazing at the still sitting girl. Hinata was able to see the other eye , that was hidden behind the gauze, thanks to that action. And even though the other eye didn't look human, Hinata wasn't afraid._

"Go home, Hyuga Hinata," _she told her_ ," and forget what you saw here. For your own sake." _And with that warning leaving her lips, Sakura started to walk off, disappearing into the shadows._

Thinking back now, when Hinata encountered the two monsters, she was completely afraid, terrified even. But when Haruno Sakura suddenly appeared to save her from her demise, the fear that had been built up had vanished, as if it wasn't there in the first place. She felt like she was safe, which that in itself, was strange. It was obviously clear that the pinkette was clearly not normal. She had powers that no one else had and she even claimed that she was a half-blood, which meant that she had those monsters blood flowing through her veins. Yet... she didn't find the pink haired girl repulsive one bit.

"Haruno-san..." Hinata called out the other girl's name in a whisper. Sakura had told her to forget about what happened, but in truth she couldn't. Or rather, she didn't want to forget. Because by doing so, she would have to forget the side that she only saw of the transfer student. And deep down, that was something she didn't want to lose. "Haruno-san..." Hinata repeated once more. "Who are you?" She left that question hang in the air. The ravenette wanted to know more about the mysterious transfer student known as Haruno Sakura.

With the determination to find out, Hinata's eyes slowly started to grow heavy and in seconds, she fell into the land of dreams.

* * *

As the people of Konohagakure were turning in for the night, hoping to have good dreams and a better tomorrow, there was one individual who never rests.

In the far depths of the demon realm, in a huge traditional, Japanese castle, which was surrounded by many demons big and small, and human slaves that they had gathered up over the years, there was a young man sitting upon his throne, watching the city of Konohagakure with his demonic sight. He had felt a small and familiar power coming from the human world and thought he'd take a look. But by the time he found the place where the energy originated from, there was nothing there.

Having missed what it was, and seeing that there was no activity going on, the young man grew bored and stopped using his sight, his glowing yellow demonic eye growing dim. As he did, he noticed a black pool of darkness before him and from it, a figure started to emerge from within. The figure was a reddish-pink woman, with a horn coming out from her forehead on the right side, and what looked like a business suit from the human world adorned the demon woman's body.

Once fully materialized, the demon looked up. Her gaze met the young man's one uncovered demonic eye, the other was being obscured by his black bangs. But the one eye was all it took to strike fear into the demonic woman and she quickly turned her gaze to the floor, kneeling on one knee and bowing her head. "M-My Lord," she stuttered, cursing herself inwardly for doing so. "I've come here, before you, to ask for your aide."

The young man, being called Lord, looked down at the grovelling demon asking for help. _His_ help. "And why should I help a pathetic demon like yourself?" he asked her in a threatening cold tone of voice. If the demon's reason wasn't good enough, then he would kill her himself. At least it would relieve him of some of his boredem.

"Just moments ago, my partner and I were after our prey," she started to explain. Already she could feel that her Lord was getting annoyed with her story. His power was overwhelming and it took all she had to continue. "But as we were about to have our way, someone came and interrupted us. It was a girl and when she managed to kill my partner, she was going to kill me next, had I not come here instead."

The young man listened to the demon's story. At first he was going to kill her then and there for just opening her mouth, but after she mentioned a girl killed a demon, it piqued his interest. A smile had started to creep onto his lips. "So," he spoke, "you mean to tell that this girl you speak of, killed your demon pet and almost killed you in the process?"

"Y-Yes my Lord," the woman replied. "She was also a demon. She claimed herself to be a half-blood."

The black haired young man narrowed his eyes. Hearing the demon's story, it started to make sense. The familiar power he felt, and hearing about a half-blood, he knew immediately that it came down to one person, one specific girl. _This is getting interesting_ he thought to himself.

Hearing the sound of someone standing, the demon woman looked up, and saw that her lord was gone. For a quick second she wondered where he went, but it was soon answered when she felt a huge, frightening power coming from behind her, up close, and she knew that he was right behind her. Sweat had started to pour down her face at that point, worrying about the worst. But the next thing she felt was a finger pressing at the back of her head. _What is..._ was all the demon could think before she suddenly felt power coursing though her. The fatigue she had only moments ago, disappeared completely.

"I have given you a very small amount of my power," the young man told her, removing his finger from the demon's head. "It will be enough to kill that half-blooded girl. Now go. Kill her and any one else who stands in your way." The pool of darkness from before, appeared beneath the reddish-pink demon and giving her lord a "With pleasure" she was sucked in and it was all quiet once more.

With the demon woman gone, the young man was by himself in his throne once more, but now he was no longer bored. He now had something to think about. _Now then,_ he thought. _What will you do now... Haruno Sakura._ The black haired man began to chuckle to himself, as he remembered the past. About a terrified pink haired little girl, which brought him much amusement.


	4. Sakura's Warning

The next day, in Hinata's bedroom, the raventte slowly begun to open her eyes. Her vision was slightly blurry, but after a few blinks she could see clearly. She then looked at her clock, which read seven-fifthteen. Hinata had gotten up earlier than she normally would and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. The raven haired girl was still thinking about her experience last night and she was even surprised that she got any sleep in the first place. Now that the girl was fully awake, Hinata got out of her bed, washed her face and got changed into her summer school uniform.

After about thirty minutes of getting herself ready and having her breakfast, Hinata left the house and started to make her way to Konoha High. Tenten was on duty in school, so she didn't have to wait, but that also meant that she'd be walking by herself, which was quite lonely for Hinata. She walked along the concrete path, which was only occupied by her, some other students from different schools and other passerbys. It was a quiet morning so she saw them every now and again. Her feet quickly came to a stop, however, when her eyes gazed at someone she recognised, near a tree.

That someone was her new pink haired classmate, Haruno Sakura, and she was looking up at the tree. Hinata didn't know why, but before she knew it, she was hiding behind the nearest building's wall and poked her head out, watching what the pinkette was doing. The raven haired girl followed the other girl's line of sight, and from what she could see, Sakura was staring at a cat on top of a high branch. _It most likely got stuck up there._ The cat began to cry out and it took all Hinata had to not go up there herself and rescue the cat.

But by the looks of it, she didn't have to.

The pink haired girl looked to her left, then to her right, probably making sure that no one was around and could see her. When the coast was clear (from Sakura's point of view anyway) she placed her school bag onto the floor, and looked around once more before she jumped up and landed on the tree's branch, the one the cat was laying on. The pinkette then reached her hand out toward the cat and said something to it. _Maybe she's trying to get it to move toward her?_ was Hinata's thought and whatever she was saying, it was working, as the cat slowly approached the girl's hand.

When the cat was close enough, slowly as to not frighten the small animal, Sakura grabbed it, embracing it to her chest and jumped down from the tree branch. Landing safely with the cat in her arms, the pinkette looked at it with her gentle emerald eye, a look that Hinata had never seen before. The cat then gave a little "Meow" and then started to lick the pink haired girl's face with it's little tongue, the ravenette's eyes widened at Sakura's reaction.

She was smiling and laughing. She laughed like how a teenage girl should, as the cat continued to lick it's saviour's face in appreciation. _Beautiful_ Hinata said in her thoughts. For some reason, she could feel her cheeks begin to blush, and her heart was hammering away in her chest. This was a new side of Haruno Sakura that Hinata hadn't seen, and she was the only one to see such a pretty sight. After a few more licks from the cat, the pinkette decided now was the time to put the furry animal down. She gave it a few more strokes before she picked up her school bag, turned around, and walked away. The cat just sat there, mewling, as it's saviour walked off. But the pinkette didn't stop and continued on like nothing happened.

When the pink haired girl disappeared from view, Hinata let out her breath that she didn't realize she held in and slumped her back against the wall she was hiding behind, her gaze turning to the blue summer sky. The image of Sakura's gentle eye, her smile and laughter were engraved in her memory and when she recalled it, her cheeks again became crimson, her heart dancing around in her chest and butterflies where in her stomach. _What's wrong with me?_ she asked herself in her thoughts. She put her hand on her chest and could feel her heartbeat going crazy. _Why is my heart acting this way?_

"Meow."

A cry of a cat brought Hinata out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw the cat that Sakura helped, staring at her. The ravenette smiled at the small feline and reached out, petting it. The cat purring in response from the attention it was getting.

* * *

Once the cat was satisfied, the butterflies in her stomach were gone and her heart rate was beating normally again, Hinata finally made it to school. She changed her outdoor shoes into the school's shoe-like slippers at the entrance and made her way to her classroom. As she entered through the door, the ravenette immediately noticed Sakura sitting at her desk, her head resting on the palm of her hand and stared out of the window. She looked very disinterested and didn't bother interacting with anybody in the classroom. It was huge difference to what she saw on her way here.

The other girl's didn't go near the pink haired girl, which was understandable because of what happened yesterday, but still, Hinata didn't like it. If they had seen what the ravenette had seen before, then she knew they would keep trying, just like her.

Since she saw that no one was going to go over to her and talk, Hinata decided she be the one to do it. But before she could say the one-eyed girl's name, a pair of hands suddenly grasped the raven haired girl's breasts from behind. Hinata let out a cry from the sudden touch of her chest and everyone, including Sakura, looked to see what was going on.

Hinata turned her head toward her attacker and saw that it was none other than her childhood friend. "Tenten!"the ravenette shouted her friends name. Tenten on the other hand, had a huge grin like a cheshire cat planted on her face and didn't look like she felt sorry.

The twin bunned girl started to move her hands around, playing with Hinata's chest, the smile never leaving her face. "Morning Hinata!" she said. "Hey, have your breasts gotten bigger?"she asked the ravenette, continuing to squeeze the girl's chest.

"W-What are you asking!?" Hinata was in trouble now. The motions of Tenten's hands where starting to make her, to her horror, feel good. Really good.

"Come on you can tell me."

"Let me go Tenten!"

"Nope."

"Meanie!"

As the girl's continued to play around, the onlookers, having seen what was going on, turned back to what they were doing. It was nothing new to them, as they had seen this sort of thing since they started Konoha High. But Sakura continued to look at the pair of girls. Even though Hyuga Hinata was was telling her friend off, she looked she was having fun. Nostalgia started to appear in the pink haired girl's mind but she quickly blocked it out. She didn't want to remember any good memories that felt like a dream at this point.

The door to the classroom suddenly opened and Kakashi, 2-B's homeroom teacher, came through the door. "Okay everyone it's time for..." Kakashi stopped at mid-sentence when he saw the normal duo, Hinata and Tenten, bickering with one another. He just closed his one eye and let out a sigh. "Not again."

A few minutes later, the two girls finally realized that everything was quiet, and when they looked around, the saw Kakashi was standing there, waiting. The two girls both began to blush from embarrassment and awkwardly went to their seats. With that, homeroom had finally begun.

* * *

Four uneventful hours of lessons, with shorts breaks in between them, had passed and finally the school bell, which everyone had been waiting for, signalling the end of fourth period and the start of lunch, had rung, and everyone in class had begun to move. Hinata noticed, like everybody else, Sakura was, too, about to leave. She couldn't speak to the pink haired girl in the morning because she messed about with Tenten, but Hinata wasn't about to give up.

She knew Sakura was a normal girl, despite claiming herself to be like those monsters and having supernatural powers. Helping a cat out of a tree. Smiling and laughing innocently. These are the things that true monsters, like the two Hinata had seen the other night, wouldn't do. So like yesterday, with determination to succeed, Hinata walked up to Sakura's desk.

Probably sensing her presence, the pinkette looked up and saw Hinata standing next to her. The raven haired girl didn't miss the slight irritation in the other girl's eye, but she ignored it and did what she came to do. "Haruno-san," Hinata called the girl's name. But like she did when they first met, Sakura simply stood up, walked past Hinata and started to make her way toward the door.

But unlike last time, the ravenette wasn't going to let up. She was going to have a proper conversation with the transfer girl, even if it killed her. Running past the pink haired girl, Hinata quickly got in front of her, effectively blocking her path and her white eyes gazed into an emerald one. Sakura narrowed her lone eye into a glare when she saw the ravenette getting in her way. "Move," she ordered, her voice cold.

But Hinata's resolve would not falter. "No," she said, her eyes serious. "Not until I've talked to you."

The girls that had remained in the classroom for lunch, began to stare at the spectacle. They were surprised, even Tenten, that the raven haired girl was being slightly forceful at the new girl and their gazes never left one another's.

Sakura looked into the eyes of the Hyuga girl, and saw the determination in them. They never wavered as they looked into the pinkette's own and, knowing that this stubborn girl wouldn't back down, Sakura closed her eye and let out a sigh. "Very well," she finally said. She took a few steps past Hinata and turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder. "Follow me."

Hinata gave a nod of response and did as she was told, following the pinkette out of the classroom, unaware of a certain brunette's worried look upon her.

* * *

The two girls went up the stairs, leading to the third years floor and continued, ignoring the strange looks from the third year girls were giving them (which was extremely hard for Hinata), up another set of stairs leading to the roof of the school. Sakura opened the metal door in front of them and when they stepped out into the open, Hinata could feel a pleasant breeze on her face, and it felt nice on her skin.

After a few more steps, the pinkette stopped in her tracks and turned on her heel, facing the raven haired girl. "So," Sakura began. "What is it you want to talk about so badly?"

Getting straight to the point, Hinata was taken slightly aback. But she wasn't going to back down now after getting here. "I wanted to talk about what happened last night." she replied, remembering her attackers on that frightful night.

"Didn't I tell you to forget about what happened?" The pink haired girl questioned, a mocking smile soon finding it's way on her lips. "And here I thought you were a smart one. But you're just another idiot like the rest."

The comment hurt Hinata slightly, but she carried on. "But what's going on?" the ravenette asked. "What were those things last night?"

"They were demons," Sakura told her, plainly and simply.

"D-Demons...?" Hinata repeated.

"That's right," Sakura continued, folding her arms in front of her chest. "They come out during the night, preferably so they aren't seen, and then they attack and devour humans for their own pleasure, just like when you were targeted last night. They even kill children and butcher families on a night stroll." At this point in the conversation, Hinata's eyes widened like saucers, her hand covering her mouth. Sakura continued on. "Demons only see humanity as meals or play things, nothing more, nothing less. And it's rare that they keep humans as pets or slaves before eventually killing them. They even use their own kind as slaves if they're weaker than themselves."

A cold sweat started to run down Hinata's back at Sakura's explanation, and a lot of gruesome images appeared in the ravenette's mind. "No... way..." the words escaped her mouth before she realized.

"What? Don't believe me?" Sakura asked. "Even though you saw them with your very own eyes." A pause. She looked at the ground, her emerald eye looking a little sad and her cocky smirk was completely gone. "And even though you're standing in front of one right now."

When those words went through Hinata's, she remembered past events, from last night and this morning. Remembering how Sakura saved her from the two demons by summoning a huge scythe and fighting them alone, effectively revealing who she really was. She then remembered the scene with the cat, that was stuck up the tree. Sakura could of left it up there, ignore it completely, but she didn't and decided to help it out of the kindness of her own heart. And then the gentle look she gave it, followed by the laugh, melted her heart. Hinata knew that the girl in front of her was no monster, so it felt natural to say, "You're wrong!"

Sakura's eye widened in surprise with the ravenette's outburst, Hinata continuing what she wanted to say. "You're nothing like them Haruno-san," she said. "If what you said is true, about what the demons do, then you're completely wrong. If that was the case, then you wouldn't have saved me back then!" Sakura narrowed her eye and furrowed her brow. "Last night you said that you were a half-blood right? Which means that you're also half human, right? That's why-"

In the next instant, Hinata felt hands grab the collar of her school shirt and her feet left the floor of the roof, now dangling in the air. Sakura had closed the gap between them in a matter of seconds and was now glaring at the raven haired girl. Hinata, with one eye closed, looked down at the pinkette's emerald orb, and in it, she only saw anger. She could feel the collar starting to choke her, slowly stopping her airwaves. "What would you know..." Sakura spoke in a menacing growl. This was the first time Hinata had seen the other girl lose her calm demeanour. "What would someone like you know about me!?"

"Ha...runo...san..." Hinata managed to squeeze out, the collar tightening even further thanks to the pinkette's anger.

"You would never understand," Sakura spat out. "You'll never understand what I've been through until now. All the pain and suffering I've gone through day in and day out, by humans and demons, is something you'll never comprehend. So don't you dare compare me to you!"

Hinata's vision slowly started to blur from the lack of oxygen her lungs were receiving, but no matter what she tried her best to keep her gaze on the emerald orb of her classmate.

"Can you feel that, Hyuga Hinata?" Sakura asked, seeing the light in the girl's eye slowly starting to fade. She decided to put more pressure on the collar. "Can you feel the life slowly starting to leave your body? Maybe I should finish off what those two demons started." The raven haired girl's remaining open eye, slowly started to close. But before it could close completely, ultimately ending the girl's life, Sakura released Hinata, the ravenette falling onto the ground and began to have a coughing fit, her hand on her throat.

The pinkette started to make her way to the rooftop's door, but stopped next to Hinata, who had stopped coughing her guts out and started to breathe heavily. "Hyuga Hinata," she called out to the girl sitting down. "If you say anything like that to me again, then know this. I'll kill you." And with those parting words, Sakura continued on, disappearing through the door and leaving Hinata behind.

The footsteps of the pinkette soon disappeared, and when they were completely gone and she was alone, Hinata's hands started to ball into fists. She felt absolutely powerless that she couldn't help the pink haired girl. In fact, she probably made it even worse. Heaving a heavy sigh, the ravenette stood up and walked to door, seeing no point at staying on the rooftop. Her footsteps were heavy as she made her way back to the classroom and for the rest of the school day, Haruno Sakura never went back to class.

* * *

 **And that's the end of episode those who stuck with me, then I like to say thanks, and I'll start episode 2 as fast I can. Until next time.  
**


	5. Revenge! The Rematch Between Demons

Watching the traffic and the people down below her, and as the sun was setting, Haruno Sakura was sitting on the ledge on one of the tallest buildings in Konohagakure deep in thought, her school uniform swaying in the warm breeze. She was thinking about a lot of things. One of them being what had happened on the school's rooftop with her raven haired classmate, Hyuga Hinata. In truth, Sakura knew that the Hyuga girl's intentions were pure and innocent. The girl only wanted to become her friend, and what she said on the roof, on her part, was her trying to help Sakura out.

 _Why did I do that to her?_ the pinkette thought to herself. Sakura could still remember holding her classmate's collar and starting to squeeze the life out of her, almost killing the raven haired girl. She even remembered the part about her threatening to kill her before she left the roof. Why did the one, emerald eyed girl do allthose things? Sakura then shook her head. _No. I know exactly why._ For the pinkette, the reason was clear as day. Hyuga Hinata, the kind and aloof raven haired girl, reminded her so much of another girl. A girl who knew Sakura's secret as a demon. A girl who accepted her completely.

 _Yuki-chan..._

Yamanaka Yukiko. If Sakura closed her eyes, she could see the girl's face clearly. Shoulder length brown hair, beautiful and gentle, blue coloured eyes the same colour as the summer sky, and her small smile which had always made Sakura feel warm inside. She missed her greatly.

The pinkette quickly shook her head again. _Stop it Sakura!_ she chastised herself. That was all in the past. And what happened then could never be redone... no matter how much Sakura wished it. The pink haired girl decided to clear her mind of all thoughts, and she let out a sigh afterwards.

"My, my. What's with the sigh?"

Sakura's one eye widened as she heard a voice behind her, and quickly turned her head around to look. There, in the middle of the rooftop she was on, was a pool of darkness that the pinkette recognised, and from within it, a figure started to emerge. Sakura narrowed her eye as she knew who the figure was. The demon woman, that had attacked her and Hinata the other night, was standing before her, in her human form once more and a smile forming on her lips.

The pinkette wondered though. Why didn't she sense the demon's arrival? She would normally be able to sense a demons presence from a mile away, thanks to training her instincts. But somehow, this demon had eluded that.

The demon woman examined the little demon's expression and smiled even more. "I'm sorry," the demon woman apologised mockingly. "Did I surprise you?"

Sakura glared at the demon as she stood up, never braking eye contact. She then hopped off the ledge she was perched on and moved closer to the demon, now standing only a few feet away from each other. "Have you come to get your revenge on me?"

"Isn't that obvious?" she said, her smile never leaving her face. "Not only did you get in the way of my prey, but you also killed my companion."

Sakura smirked at her comment. "That's interesting. I didn't know demons showed compassion for one another."

"Don't misunderstand me, my dear. That demon I brought was nothing to me. There are many more to use in the demon realm," she said proudly, but then the demonic woman frowned, almost looked she was pouting. "But do you know how long it takes to train them up to my standards?"

Sakura just wanted to laugh. The demons hadn't changed one bit and she knew that they would never change. The pinkette closed her eye and cleared her mind from all thoughts, focusing on the target at hand. When her mind was relaxed, the pink haired girl's dark blue tinted scythe materialized in her left hand from black flames. Gripping the weapon, her eye opened, and twirled the sharp tipped weapon over her head, swinging it to her side and was ready to fight.

"Impatient aren't we?" the demon woman spoke, the smirk returning to her face. "But that's fine too."

After those words, the woman removed her suit's jacket, leaving her with only her white buttoned down shirt and skirt, and tossed it away. She then began to transform, her skin turning reddish-pink, a horn on the right side of her forehead. Her bangs covering half of her face and her eyes becoming pupiless red. "Now then," the demon began. "Shall we begin round two?" She used her index finger to motion the pink haired girl to come at her.

Having enough of the woman's confidence, Sakura leapt toward the demon, closing the distance between them, at inhuman speed, and swung her scythe, hoping to end the fight with one strike. But as the cold, silver metal was about to slice her opponent, the demonic woman smiled and at the last possible second, she suddenly disappeared from the pinkette's line of sight, her scythe slicing nothing but air.

 _Where did she-!?_

"Are you looking for me?"

Sakura's emerald eye widened in surprise as the reddish-pink demon reappeared next to the pink haired girl's side. The demon smiled, as one of her bladed wrists swung down toward the now open pinkette. Just as the blade touched Sakura's skin, she somehow managed to use the polearm of the scythe to block the incoming strike. But thanks to the demon's new found strength, the pink haired girl was pushed backwards, sliding a few feet away from her enemy.

Managing to regain her balance, Sakura could feel her arms shaking. Just from that one strike, the pinkette knew that this wasn't the same demon she had faced before. Her speed, and especially her strength, were proof of that, and Sakura couldn't help herself being a little frustrated. The girl narrowed her eye and turned her body to face her opponent. Things weren't looking good. It's barely been a few seconds since they had started to fight and already there's a huge gap between their power and strength.

 _Where did all this power come from all of a sudden?_ The pinkette just shook her head. She could think about it later.

The pink haired girl took on the offensive once more and lunged at the demon. She swung her scythe at the demon's side but she easily parried it with her other bladed wrist. Not wasting time, Sakura, while in the deadlock that was created, tried to punch the reddish-pink demon with her free hand, hoping her demonic strength would give her some distance.

But the demon grasped the approaching fist with her hand, and started to pull her forwards. The demon woman then cocked her head back and brought it down, hard and fast, head butting the pink haired girl's face. She wasn't finished however. As the other girl was falling backwards from the blow, the demon gripped Sakura's pink locks and pulled her back towards her, kneeing her in the pit of the stomach when she did.

The emerald eyed girl coughed up some blood from the impact, the demon releasing her hold on the girl's hair. Sakura staggered backwards and went down on one knee, clutching her stomach. Now feeling nauseous, the young demon girl looked up and glared at the older demon as best as she could, but the woman begun to laugh. "What's wrong?" she asked knowingly. "Is that all you've got? Don't tell you've gotten weak in one night?"

Ignoring the pain, Sakura got up shakingly, using her scythe as support. She somehow managed to regain some of her composure, and took her fighting stance once more.

"Oh, are you going to keep fighting?" she asked Sakura, sounding very amused.

The pinkette was starting to get annoyed with the demon's mocking tone and thought it was time to shut her up, permanently. With a burst of speed, Sakura got to the demon in a second and swung her scythe in a diagonal slash, trying to cut the demon in half. The demon, however, just smiled and swayed to the side, dodging the attack easily. "Not yet!" Sakura shouted as she saw her attack miss it's target. She twisted her body and swung her scythe in a horizontal arc, but instead of the demon's flesh, her scythe's blade met the woman's own.

After a second, they both jumped away from one another, and when they landed, in unison, the pair of demons charged at one another, their speeds almost matching. As their weapons clashed once more, they both disappeared from sight. The only thing filling the now silent rooftop was the sound of metal against metal, and spark flashing here and there, on different parts of the roof.

A few seconds pass as the pair of demons fought with lightning speed, and after one final blow, with both of their weapons, Sakura and the demon both jumped away from each other. When they landed, the pinkette began to breathe heavily on the spot, while the demon in front of her looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat.

She smiled at the now tired pink haired girl. "What? Done already?" She asked her,again, in a mocking tone.

Sakura glared at the demon. She was now sick and tired of the demon's gloating and at last, she really had enough of it. "Shut up!" The pinkette screamed and charged at the demon recklessly. She attacked the demon's side with a diagonal slash, but like every attack she dealt, it was easily blocked. With all her remaining strength, Sakura pushed in the deadlock that had been formed, hoping she would win. But the demon gave her a knowing smirk.

The battle had been decided.

She side-stepped and the pink haired girl lost her balance, starting to fall forwards. Her emerald green eye widened, not expecting the sudden action and the demon took the opportunity laid out before her. As the girl was falling forward, the reddish-pink kicked, again, her in the pit of her stomach, the girl's eyes closing from the sheer pain. The demonic woman then went behind Sakura, clasped both her hands together and, like a sledgehammer, swung down hard onto the younger demon's head, causing the girl to hit the rooftop, hard.

The last attack was that strong however, it caused Sakura to bounce from the ground and back into the air. Not missing a beat, the demon woman twisted her body and kicked the girl, with the heel of her foot, and watched as the pinkette flew towards the end of the building, coming to a sliding stop at the roof's edge.

Sakura felt extremely nauseous. When she opened her eye and tried her best to sit up, it felt like the world was spinning in front of her eye. It was twisting and turning so much that she wanted to vomit there and then. Finally managing to sit up, pain started to assault her body. Her body was aching from the beating that she had just taken, and it was crying out, telling her to stop. But she couldn't stop, not yet, so she paid it no mind.

When her eye sight started to come in to focus, she saw the demon approach her, a twisted smile planted on her face. _Come on! Stand up!_ she screamed in her thoughts, trying to push her body into moving. _I need to stand up. I have to stand up and keep fighting!_

But, as much as she tried, all the pinkette could manage was going on her hands and knees. By the time she got into that position, the demon woman had reached her and was now by her side. Sakura looked up, her emerald green eye met pupiless red and she glared as best as she could at the demon. But said demon just smirked it off and bent down. She reached out, grasping the pinkette's hair and pulled her up, lifting her off her feet. Sakura was now left dangling in the air.

The pink haired girl's eye closed tightly as she bore a pained expression on her face. She could hear the chuckle in the woman's throat, finding her pained amusing. "That's right," she said. "I like that face."

Sakura opened her eye into a squint, looking at the demon, before she saw something in the corner of her eye. Looking down, she saw the demon's blade rotating around her left clavicle area. After a few seconds rotating (teasing in the demon's case) the demon woman's hand stopped, as did the blade, and then slowly, she started to push, forcing the blade through Sakura's flesh.

Sakura's emerald green eye widened as she started to feel severe pain. She screamed as the blade went in deeper and deeper into her body, and soon enough, the blade went through, it sharp metal tip poking out of the other end. Hot crimson started to ooze out from the wound that was created, and it had stained the pinkette's school shirt, v-neck sleeveless jumper and the demon's blade with the colour red. Sakura's scythe, which the pink haired girl miraculously held onto the entire time of her beating, fell out of her grasp and hit the floor, de-materializing into black flames and disappearing.

"Does it hurt?" the demon asked knowingly, her lips curving into a wicked smile. "You know, I can make this pain go away. You just have to be my little pet. What do you say?" She then cocked her head to one side. "You have such a nice body, I hate to go and ruin it."

Trying to withstand the agonizing pain that she was feeling right now, Sakura looked into the demon's pupiless eyes and glared daggers at her. "Go... to... hell..." she said slowly, each word coming out with a painful breath.

The demon sighed after the pinkette's reply. "Oh well," she said, and smiled once more. "Have a nice trip."

The instant those words left the woman's lips, she released her hold of the pink haired girl's hair, and with her now free hand, she punched the girl in the chest, causing the young demon girl to fly backwards from the rooftop. She smashed through a couple of buildings, before stopping at a construction site a few blocks apart from the building they were on.

* * *

Hinata was walking home on the familiar concrete path, during the rush hour period of Konohagakure. Again, like the night that she was attacked, the sun had set rather quickly and the night had graced the skies above.

Her thoughts were occupied by the events of the rooftop at school. The ravenette began to wonder if what she has been trying to do the entire time has only annoyed her pink haired classmate and wasn't helping one bit. _No that's not right_ Hinata thought to herself. She knew what she was doing was _only_ annoying her, what happened on the roof of the school was proof of that.

The ravenette's fingertips pressed lightly on her neck. She remembered how she had almost died from being strangled by her own collar, the seriousness and anger in Sakura's emerald green eye and most of all, the promise she had made to her.

 _"Hyuga Hinata," she called out to the girl sitting down. "If you say anything like that to me again, then know this. I'll kill you." And with those parting words, Sakura continued on, disappearing through the door and leaving Hinata behind._

When Hinata got back to her classroom after that, Tenten had come to her in a heartbeat, asking if she was all right and what had happened. The ravanette, however, didn't want her best friend to worry, so she put on a forced smile and told her that everything was fine. But even she knew that Tenten wouldn't buy that one bit. They were close friends after all. But thankfully, Tenten chose to go along with the bluff and she never asked her about it for the rest of the day.

 _What should I do?_ she asked in her thoughts. She stopped in her tracks and looked up, the stars in the night sky were shining brightly. _Maybe... I should leave her alone._ Maybe she should just give up. Take Sakura's advice and forget everything that had happened and move on with her life.

While lost in thought, Hinata felt something soft going round her legs. Looking down to see what it was, the ravenette saw a cat going through and around her legs, trying to get her attention. "Hey there little guy," Hinata spoke to the cat. She crouched down and began to stroke the small animal, the cat purring in response from the attention it was getting. Taking a closer look at the cat now, Hinata recognised it. It was the same cat that Sakura had rescued from the tree before, and thanks to that thought, Hinata then remembered.

She remembered the pinkette's gentle look and smile that could melt someone's heart. And her laugh. Hinata swore that there couldn't be anybody else with a cute laugh like that. Even thinking about it made her heart beat twice as fast.

 _I'm such an idiot_ Hinata chastised herself. She recalled why she approached the pink haired girl in the first place. She wanted to help her. The ravenette wanted to take away all the sadness, all the pain, the anger and every other hurtful emotion she had seen in the pinkette's one eye and replace with all the goodness that Hinata could give.

Thinking about it now, the raven haired girl found new determination. Stronger than the one she had before. Even if Sakura were to hate her, Hinata was willing to risk it, if she could smile and laugh some more. With that in mind, Hinata smiled and continued to stroke the cat, much to the creatures liking.

After a few seconds, however, a huge crashing sound could suddenly be heard, which caused the cat to run away. When she looked up, Hinata saw a huge dust covered cloud at a construction site, near to the ravenette's location. Passer-bys that were walking a long the street had stopped in their tracks, and looked at the scene, wondering aloud what was going on.

 _Is that..._ Hinata had a gut feeling at what or in her case _who_ it was. And so, while everyone around her were just standing in place gaping at it, the ravenette quickly took off in the direction of the construction site, a certain pink haired girl coming into her mind as she did.


	6. Sakura's Loss, Hinata In Danger!

**Hey guys, I just want to say a quick something. Ever since I started writing this episodic story, I've been threatened to go and kill myself twice now, and I just want to say this. I CHOSE to write this and the people who read my stories CHOSE to do so.**

 **And I've got a message, or more like a list, to the people who read my stories.  
If you don't like how I write, or my style of writing - LEAVE.  
If you don't like how I use the characters - LEAVE  
If you don't like the pairings I use - LEAVE.**

 **I'm not forcing anyone to read what I write. And to the person threatening me, I've only got this to say. GROW. UP. And get on with YOUR life. I've got family and friends, a job and my life is good, so why would I want to end it?**

 **Now since that is all out of my system, let's get on with the story shall we.**

* * *

It took a bit of time but the ravenette eventually made it to the construction site. Or what was left of it. What she saw made her eyes go wide, a small gasp escaping her lips. The entire site was a mess, support beams laying on the ground, broken. Even some of them managed to survive whatever it was that landed here.

As Hinata looked around the messed up construction site, something caught the corner of her eye. A hint of pink. Moving closer, the pink thing appeared to be someone's hair and then a face soon came into view. The ravenette gasped again, knowing instantly who it was. "Haruno-san!" Hinata cried out, running to her classmate. When she was at the emerald eyed girl's side, trying her best not to trip over anything on the ground, she crouched down next to her and began remove the metal poles and the other little debris that was on top of her.

Thankfully, there wasn't any of the heavy support beams on top of the girl, and once everything was off of the pinkette, Hinata started to call her classmate's name again. "Haruno-san!" she cried out worriedly. "Haruno-san, can you hear me!?" But, again, she received no reply from the pink haired girl.

Hinata was starting to lose hope. The girl before her was unmoving, dead. That thought terrified her. What if Sakura _was_ dead?

 _Stop it Hinata!_ The girl shook her head, dispelling all those bad thoughts that had quickly manifested in her mind. There was no way this girl was dead. Sakura couldn't die. Hinata didn't know why she thought that, but she knew. In her heart she knew that this girl wasn't dead and once more, the ravenette decided to call her name.

But she stopped herself mid-call. Sakura's fingers had started to twitch. Her brows furrowed as her closed eye slowly started to open, revealing emerald green. The girl blinked a few times before slowly turning her head slightly to look at the raven haired girl. "Hyu...ga...?"

"Haruno-san," Hinata said sighing in relief. "You're alright." Knowing she was all right and alive, the short adrenaline rush Hinata had slowly disappeared, leaving only fatigue behind. But the relief she had was short lived when she noticed the huge blood stain on the pinketee's uniform. How could she have missed something like that!? "Haruno-san what happened!? Why are you bleeding so much!?"

When she asked the question, Sakura's eye suddenly went wide, like she had realized something and sat up. The instant she did, she growled in pain, her hand reaching up to clutch her shoulder.

"Haruno-san you're hurt," Hinata told her. "You shouldn't move so quickly."

Sakura ignored the concerned cry and fixed the raven haired girl with a serious look. "What are you doing here Hyuga?" she asked, but then quickly shook her head. "Never mind. There isn't time. You need to get out of here right now!"

"W-what are you talking about?" Hinata asked back.

"Like I said, there isn't time!" she repeated. "You need to get out of here before-"

"My, my. Now that's not a very nice thing to say to someone who's trying to help you," a voice from above the girl's said, cutting off Sakura.

Both girl's looked up and saw, sitting on a support beam that survived Sakura's fall, the demon woman. The pinkette glared at her, gritting her teeth, but the demon chose to ignore it and smiled, jumping down and landing behind Hinata. "Good evening. It's nice to see you again, Hinata-chan."

The ravenette's eyes widened. Getting a closer look now, Hinata knew the thing in front of her was the same monster, or demon as she found out, that had attacked her the other night. The raven haired girl felt a cold sweat drop down her back.

"It's you..." she spoke in a whisper.

The demon had obviously heard her, as it's smile grew even wider. "I see you recognise me. I'm touched," she giggled. "The devil must be by my side. Not only will I get to kill this annoying pest-" she pointed her index finger in Sakura's direction, "-but I'll also get to kill my original prey as well. My, it must be my night!"

The demonic woman began to cackle. As she did, the pink haired girl tried to get up, but try as she might she couldn't get off the ground. The pain in her shoulder, in combination with her aching body, refused to let her move. _Shit!_ Sakura cursed inwardly.

Seeing Sakura struggle, Hinata swallowed the lump that had gathered in her throat and putting forth all the courage she could muster, before she stood in front of her injured classmate, her arms spread out to the side. "I won't let you!" she declared at the demon.

"Hyuga...!?" Sakura shouted the ravenette's name, stunned by the girl's foolish action.

"Oh yeah?" the demon spoke, cocking up her brow. "You're going to protect her?" She once again started to cackle, laughing at the front that the ravenette was putting up. "Knowing full well that she is a demon, like me?"

"Demon or not, that doesn't matter," Hinata replied, glaring at the demon. "She's my friend. And I never abandon my friends!"

Sakura's facial expression was of one of surprise. Even after all the pinkette had said and done to the girl, the raven haired girl still considered Sakura a friend. The pinkette was right all along. The girl in front of her was completely stupid. Stupid... but for some reason hearing her say those words made the pinkette feel warm inside. What was it that she was feeling? She didn't get to ponder for long. The demon's cackling laughter had brought her out of her inner thoughts.

"Are you not scared of me?"

"I'm terrified," Hinata told her. "But I still refuse to let someone I know, especially my friends, get hurt!"

The demon sniggered to herself, finding Hinata's speech very amusing. "You're a brave girl Hinata-chan, but a very foolish one." the demon said, releasing one of her blades from her wrist, licking the sharp metal with her tongue. "Very well. If you're her friend, then you can spend the rest of your time together. When you're dead!"

Hinata stood firm from those threatening words, her eyes showing determination that wasn't there before when they first met. But the demon honestly didn't care. With a smirk, the woman swung the back of her hand against the ravenette's face, causing the girl to fly to the side and hit the floor.

"Hyuga!" Sakura screamed, trying to get up. But unfortunately the demon had cut her off, her sharp metal blade pointing at the pinkette's face.

"Na, ah, ah," the demon said. "Not so fast. The guest of honour can't leave just yet." One side of her lips curved as she slowly started to bring her blade back, the sharp tip now trained on the pinkette's chest, were her heart was.

It looked like this was it. Tonight was the night. The night that Sakura could finally die. The pink haired half demon could finally leave everything behind. The suffering. The sadness. The loneliness, everything. Sakura closed her eyes. She could see her best, and only, friend's face behind her eyelids. _Yuki-chan_ she thought. She could see her gentle, blue coloured eyes looking at her, her smile warm. _I'll be with you soon._

When she saw the girl close her eyes and accepted what was going to happen, the one horned demon smiled. "Now then. Time to die!" And with that, she thrusted her bladed wrist toward the the pink haired little demon.

"Haruno-san!"

For just a moment, Sakura thought that she heard her name being called out, but she chose to ignore it. It was probably just her hearing things, and continued to wait. Soon the sound of flesh being pierced could be heard, followed by a splash of something lukewarm hitting Sakura in the face. She then realized that it wasn't her body that had been impaled and a bit of the lukewarm substance had gotten into her mouth. It tasted like iron. Finding it strange, the pinkette slowly opened her emerald green eye and when it was fully open, it went wide immediately.

Standing there was the reason why she wasn't killed yet. The reason why she heard what she had heard and felt what she had felt. The reason had long, raven coloured hair and the same uniform she was wearing, which now had a sharp metal blade through it, and was starting to go red. The reason was Hyuga Hinata. The ravenette was standing there in front of her and was holding the blade tightly, causing blood to run through her fingers, which had pierced her through her abdomen, so it couldn't go any further.

"Why...?" Sakura asked in a whisper. The most shocking thing of all was even though blood began to slip from her mouth and down her chin, plus the fact that she had been stabbed, the raven haired girl gave Sakura a small, kind smile.

"Are you... alright... Haruno...san?" she asked the shocked girl beneath her.

 _Why?_ was all Sakura could think of at the moment. Why was this girl, who had been stabbed and was probably in a lot of pain, still worrying about someone like her? It didn't make any sense at all. She didn't deserve all this kindness!

The cackling laughter from the demon brought her attention back to her. "You really are a brave girl Hinata-chan," she said. "But a very foolish one as well, just like I said." The demonic monster began to pull her blade out from the human girl... or tried to. She realized the blade wouldn't budge and soon noticed that Hinata was holding it tightly in place. "Hey!" she screamed as she pulled, "Let go!"

Hearing the woman behind her struggle, Hinata, who still had a smile on her face, spoke to the pinkette, whom was still looking at the ravenette with a wide eye. "Haruno-san, run," she told her. Now Sakura's eye had widened even more when she heard those words. "Run away... quickly."

Sakura had a quick flashback when she heard those exact words. Instead of Hinata standing there, it was her friend, Yamanaka Yukiko. Back then, it had been her in this same sort of situation. With her warm loving smile, saying those exact words the ravenette said.

"I said let go you stupid bitch!"

Finally coming back to her senses, Sakura noticed that the Hyuga girl wouldn't last much longer and at that point, the pinkette made up her mind. She wasn't going to run away like she had last time. She refused to let what happened then repeat itself. Narrowing her eye, and gathering up what little strength she had, Sakura quickly summoned her weapon, the scythe materializing in her hand from black flames, and went to the side of the blade that was connecting the demon and Hinata together. Using all of her remaining demonic strength, she swung down her scythe in a horizontal slash. The sycthe's sharp tipped blade somehow managed to cut the demon's blade, the demon herself falling backwards when she decided to pull hard at that moment.

And, using the opening that she had created, Sakura held the ravenette in a princess carry and fled the construction site with her classmate in her arms.


	7. Feelings Expressed, Her Other Self

**Apologises for any use of repeated words in this story. Also a big thank you to TheBigFour for the support and for telling me about Hinata's last name. I've changed now. (From Hyuga - Hyuuga)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm just using it's characters for this story.**

* * *

After moving far away from the construction site that she could manage, Sakura, carrying the raven haired Hyuuga girl in her arms, found herself in a park. Normally at this time of night, the park would be full of couples going on a lovely night strolls, spending time each other. But at this moment of time, it was absolutely quiet.

Making sure that there really wasn't anyone around, Sakura made her way to a vacant bench and carefully, laid Hinata on the smooth wooden object. With the her now on the bench, the first thing the pinkette had to do was to get the demon's blade out of Hinata and treat the injury. She had no idea how much blood her classmate had lost, so time was really of the essence.

Before the pink haired girl could take out the blade, she had to remove an obstacle first. The girl's clothing. "I'm sorry Hyuuga," Sakura apologised sincerely and then summoned her scythe. With a quick swipe from the sharp blade, Sakura had sliced the ravenette's sleeveless v-neck vest and school shirt down the middle, around the blade, cutting it in half and exposing Hinata's bra and skin to the cool air.

"Ha...runo...san..." Hinata spoke weakly, looking at Sakura with half lidded eyes.

"Try not to speak," the pinkette told her. She could tell how fragile the other girl was at the moment and speaking looked like it took a lot of energy to use. "You're going to need all the strength you have for when I take this blade out." The raven haired girl nodded slowly in agreement and then after began to smile. When Sakura caught sight of the girl's smile, she looked at her strangely. Seriously, the girl smiling, even during this time, baffled her to no end. "Why are you smiling?" she decided to ask her.

Hinata looked at her with gentle eyes. "That's because... I'm happy," she replied, taking a breath every now and again. "This is... the first time that... we've spoken properly... to one another."

Sakura looked in white, pupiless pools, that were still filled with warmth, for a while longer before she turned her gaze away. "You're a very weird girl," Sakura said. Hinata smiled and giggled at the comment, but the giggling got cut off as the raventte started to cough out a bit of blood.

Sakura looked back at her with a wide eye. _Damn it!_ she cursed in her thoughts. There wasn't much time. The pink haired girl grabbed the blade, gripping it firmly and ignoring that the blade's sharp metal bit into her hand. "Are you ready, Hyuuga?" she asked the ravenette. "This is going to hurt, but you'll have to bear with it."

Hinata, again, nodded her head slowly, giving consent and with that, she started to count back from three. When she got to zero, she slowly, and trying her best to make it as painless as possible (even Sakura thought that was a stupid think to hope for), pulled the blade out with her demonic strength.

Hinata's eyes closed tightly as she felt the blade slowly move from within her and she bit her lower lip, trying her best to stop herself from screaming from the agonising pain that she was in.

After a few seconds, or what felt like an eternity for both girls, Sakura had successfully removed the blade from Hinata's abdomen. The girl herself began to start panting strongly, sweat slowly starting to pour down her face. It was over on Hinata's part but the pinkette was far from done. Unravelling the white gauze on her left arm, Sakura started (and struggled) to wrap it around the girl's stomach, knotting the points where the blade had entered and exited and somehow, she managed to wrap it around her, stopping the bleeding momentarily.

But even though she had stopped it, buying herself a few hours at most, the half demon girl knew that she had to get the ravenette somewhere safe for more treatment. Sakura then moved on to Hinata's hands. She wondered if they had been cut when the raven haired girl held the blade to stop it from killing the pinkette. They were, but thankfully the wounds weren't deep as she thought, which was good.

Sakura then proceeded to unravel gauze from her eye, keeping her demonic one closed. She then tore the white material in half and wrapped them around both of the girl's hands. The pink haired girl let out a sigh when she had finished, decided it was best to plan out her next move. But as she did, she heard a quiet voice calling, "Haruno-san..." and she turned her gaze to the gentle eyes that where looking up at her. "Thank you," she said, smiling another genuine smile towards the pink haired demon.

Sakura was shocked to see the girl could still be smiling brightly, even after all that she's been through, and she couldn't help asking the girl, "Why?" she asked. She really couldn't understand it. "Why are you thanking me? Don't you understand that I'm the one that did this to you!?"

Hinata was a little surprised at Sakura's outburst but she remained silent as she hadn't finished talking yet. "I'm the reason you're hurt," she continued. It was dark out but Hinata could see the water that had started to gather in the pinkette's eyes. "This is the reason why I'm alone. Why I give everyone who wants to get close to me the cold shoulder. I don't want what happened in the past to happen again. I wouldn't be able to bear it."

The pink haired girl looked up at the night sky full of stars. She watched them as they innocently sparkled, not having a care in the world. "Do you want to know why I fight demons?" She asked the other girl. Hinata was silent, but Sakura took that as her cure to keep going. "It's because I'm hoping that one of them will eventually kill me, and end it all." The girl lowered her head, a mocking smile on her lips. "But so far no luck."

The pinkette then turned her emerald green eye back to Hinata. Now that she was letting everything out, there was something Sakura wanted to know. Something she _had_ to know. "There's something else that I don't understand," she said. Hinata just layed there on the bench, looked at with gentle eyes of white. "Why is a pure hearted and innocent girl like you, so interested in becoming friends with someone like me? A monster,a demon and..." she looked her now exposed demonic arm, "... an ugly excuse of a girl."

Having said and asked what she wanted, the pinkette continued to look at her arm in disgust. She lost count on how many times she just wanted to rip it off of her body. But every time she tried, she couldn't it. She could imagine the pain that would come from it. Ironic really. That she wanted to die,yet she was too afraid to get rid of her arm because it would hurt.

Lost in her thoughts, Sakura didn't realize a hand had reached out and wrapped it's fingers around the pinkette's demonic arm. She knew who the arm belonged to and looked toward the bench, seeing Hinata with a sad smile on her face.

"You're wrong Haruno-san," she told the pinkette. The ravenette wondered why the girl only saw the bad side of herself. "You may be half demon, but all I see is a cute girl trying to live a normal life. So please-" the white eyed girl could feel her eyes start to water, "-don't say that you want to die. It makes me sad to hear it."

True to her word, a few tear drops had started to run down her cheeks and when Sakura saw them, her chest suddenly went tight. The sight of seeing the girl cry, _this_ girl cry, with a small smile still on her face, made the pink haired half demon a loss for words.

All of a sudden, Hinata began to go into a coughing fit. Sakura quickly knelt down next to the ravenette who, after her coughing fit past, started to breathe a lot heavier. When she got a closer look, Sakura didn't even need to ask what was wrong. Despite it being night time, the pinkette could clearly see that Hinata's cheeks had become a feverish red and more beads of sweat had started to pour down her face. It was most likely the stab wound that had caused the fever, and it was only going to get worse if Sakura didn't do something. And quick.

 _Damn!_ she cursed once more. She could only think of one place to take her. _I'd best hurry up before-_ but the girl's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice behind her. A voice filled with bloodlust and venom, but most of all anger. Sakura's emrald green eye widened when the she heard what the voice said to her.

"I found you..."

Feeling the hot breath on her neck, the pinkette turned her head around, fast. All she got was a quick glance of the thing standing there that she didn't want to see or not as fast as she liked to, before a reddish-pink hand gripped her throat and lifted her up with ease. Sakura grabbed the arm that was holding her up with both hands and glared at the horned demon who was smiling, baring her teeth.

"Now that wasn't very nice," the demon spoke smiling, yet her pupiless eyes was showing a very different emotion. She was _really_ pissed off.

Sakura noticed how the demons strength had increased in just short time. No. It wasn't that the demon increased her strength, she had been holding back her true power. The demon woman had been playing with the pinkette the entire time during their fight and now that she was extremely angry, she wasn't holding back any more. _Shit!_ she cursed inwardly again. There was no way of ever winning the fight in the first place!

"My, my," the demon spoke, looking past the dangling half demon and seeing Hinata laying on the bench. From where she was standing, it looked like the ravenette's breathing was slightly ragged and her cheeks were tinged red, sweat forming on her head. "She doesn't look well does she?"

"I won't... let you... touch her..." Sakura squeezed out. She needed to get oxygen into her lungs and soon.

The demon looked back at the pink haired girl, the crooked smile never leaving the woman's face. "Tough talk for someone dangling in the air," the woman said, slowly tightening her grip around the girl's throat. Now both the girl's eyes were closed tightly from the lack of oxygen, and her wind pipe being crushed in the process. The demon was enjoying every second of it. "Now then," she began again. "Why don't you go lie down for a bit?" The horned demon then brought Sakura closer, and whispered in her ear. "Once I take care of Hinata-chan, I'll come back for you."

When the sound of Hinata's name reached Sakura's ears, the pinkette opened her emerald coloured eye widely and she was brought even closer to the demon before she was thrown, sailing through the air and smashed into the park's playground equipment, leaving a dust cloud from where she landed.

As the dust cloud settled, all the demon could see was the pinkette stuck under the debris of the fallen playground equipment. _Now then_ the demon said in her thoughts, turning her attention to the raven haired girl laying on the bench. The girl's cheeks had become even more red and her breathing grew heavier. It looked like her fever was getting worse. "Poor girl," the demon spoke out loud this time. She walked up toward the bench and the sick girl opened her eyes weakly. It looked like it took a lot out of her to do such a simple thing. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan. You won't have to suffer long," the demon chuckled.

* * *

Sakura slowly started to open her eye. Her vision was a little fuzzy, and she could feel something heavy weighing down upon her. After a few seconds, however, her eye that held the emerald green orb flew open, realizing the situation she was in.

Looking behind her, she saw what was weighing her down. Parts of, what looked like playground equipment, were crushing her lower half, but luckily she had still had the feeling in her legs. Finally she looked up, and what was in front of her widened her eye in fear. The demon had it's arm wrapped round Hinata's throat, and was now dangling in the air just like Sakura was only moments ago.

 _No!_ the pinkette screamed in her thoughts. The girl turned her body around the best she could and tried, with all the strength she had left, to push the debris of the equipment off of her. _Come on! Come on!_ she shouted in her mind, but it would only budge a little bit and Sakura eventually stopped, panting heavily from her actions. And that was when she heard the chuckle and looked back to where Hinata was. She gasped, paled and her eye widened some more. The demon woman had started to lick the ravenette's face, muttering something in her ear and a blade came out of her free wrist.

Sakura just closed her and lowered her head. It... was over now. She couldn't do it. She couldn't protect someone, who thought Sakura important, again! The pinkette punched the ground out of frustration. _Damn it!_ she screamed in her mind, and then punched the ground again, _Damn it!_ and again _Damn it!_ and again _Damn it!_ Sakura could feel her eyes starting to tear up from her helplessness. _Why..._ she wondered, _Why can't I do anything!_ She slammed her fist down one more time. _Why!_

 **"It's because you're weak..."**

Sakura's emerald eye opened when she heard a familiar voice, which sounded slightly underworldly and sinister, and looked up. At this point, Sakura had forgotten how many times she had been shocked or surprised tonight. Everything had stopped. Time seemed to have stood still, as the demon had her bladed wrist cocked back, ready to deliver the final blow against Hinata.

"What's... going on..."

 **"What does it look like idiot, hehehe..."**

The pink haired demon looked around her surroundings, trying to find the familiar voice that was speaking. When she faced forward again she noticed a pool of darkness, similair to what the demon came through with, before her and like before, a figure came from within it. The figure was mist and shadow at first, but it soon began to take shape. In the form of a girl.

If what was happening now wasn't strange enough, what Sakura saw was even creepier and the pinkette couldn't help but gasp. Standing in front of her, with a grin on their face, was... herself.

The girl was virtually identical to Sakura in everyway. The same pink hair. The same physique. The same demonic arm. She was even wearing the black kimono with the pink cherry blossom petals that the pinkette would wear when she went out to hunt demons. But there was one difference between the two Sakuras. Their eyes. The identical girl's sclera, the white of the eyes, were black and her pupils were demonic eyes that were similair to the pinkette's left one. The other girl chuckled under breath.

 **"What? You don't know me?"** the other Sakura asked. The pink haired girl looked at her doppelganger with a furrowed brow and when theother Sakura saw that, she started to laugh maniacally. **"You really are an idiot! I've been with you ever since you were born!"**

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, getting slightly impatient. But the other girl continued like Sakura never asked the question.

 **"Well it doesn't matter at the moment,"** she then turned her head and looked at the frozen pair behind her. **"You know this is a bit of deja vu,"** she chuckled a little after that and then turned her attention back at the girl under the debris. **"Only this time you fought back, and even doing that you couldn't save one simple girl!"** The demonic eyed Sakura started to maniacally once again.

Sakura looked back at the ground as her other self laughed. She hated to admit it, but she was right. The demon woman's strength and power out matched hers and if she carried on fighting, she would be killed. The pinkette balled her hands into fists. She felt utterly powerless. And she was so lost in thought that she didn't noticed the other Sakura had stopped laughing.

 **"Do you want power?"** Sakura looked up at her double. She thought that she had misheard what was said. The other girl grinned even more when she saw the look of disbelief on the pinkette's face. **"You heard. Do you want power to destroy that demon? To crush her?"**

Sakura did hear right then. This thing, whatever it was, was offering her something that she desperately needed the most at the moment. But the pink haired girl had to wonder. _Can I trust it?_ The other Sakura snorted as if she knew what the original was thinking.

 **"It doesn't matter to me whether you trust me or not,"** the girl said. **"But once I leave, you won't have much time before the girl dies."** Sakura's eye widened in realization. " **So if you want to use my power, all you have to do is one thing."** The demonic girl crouched down so she was level with pink haired girl and whispered in her ear. **"Call out my name..."**

Sakura gasped inwardly and looked at her other self with worry. "Your name?" she said questionably. "But... what is your name!?" But the girl just chuckled at Sakura's outburst as she stood up, and then the pool of darkness that she had come through appeared beneath her feet. "W-Wait!" Sakura cried out.

 **"That's up to you to find out, hehehe..."** and that was the last thing she said as she laughed maniacally again and sunk into the ground,disappearing from the pinkette's sight.

True to the her other self's word, as she left, everthing slowly started to move forward again. Sakura stared at where her doppelganger left from and was at a loss for words on what to do. How could she know what that girl's name was when she didn't have the slightest clue of where to start?

"Ha...aruno...san..." Sakura, surprised she could hear a quiet voice, looked up again, her emerald green meeting gentle orbs of white. "Thank... you..." Hinata said, closing her eyes and giving her a smile and that made Sakura's heart ache when she saw it.

The smile the ravenette was showing wasn't a smile that the pinkette would normally see the girl with, which was joyful and full of life. Which met her eyes. No, this smile was far from it. It was forced, trying to tell her that everything would be all right and just run for it. _Damn it!_ Sakura cursed, more to herself than anyone else. She wondered why it hurt her so much to see the ravenette like this.

No. She knew why it hurt. If Sakura was completely honest, when Hinata first started talking to her and tried to be friendly with her, she thought it was annoying at first. But as the ravnette kept doing it more and more, she realized that the girl was genuinely caring and concerned with the pinkette. It reminded her so much about her precious friend back in the past and then remembered how she died due to Sakura's cowardliness.

 _No more..._ Sakura thought determinedly. She refused to let what happened then happen now. She _absolutely_ refused it!

 _ **"Do you want power?"**_ The pink haired girl remembered the words her double had said to her: if she wanted power. _That_ was exactly what she needed. _**"Do you want power to destroy that demon? To crush her?"**_ She wanted, no, _needed_ power to protect the ravenette from this and any other demon that would dare harm her. " _ **So if you want to use my power, all you have to do is one thing."**_ She will, _definitely_ , bring back the cheerful smile on her raven haired classmate's face, and make sure it stays. She _will_ protect that smile and the girl. _**"Call out my name..."**_

With that thought, Sakura finally opened her eye that held her demonic orb and it began to glow. She suddenly started to feel power flowing through her. Power that she had never felt before. And she called out a name. A name she didn't know, yet it escaped her lips so easily, as her determination, to protect the one girl that cared about her, grew sky high. Because the girl named Hyuuga Hinata had melted the ice that had surrounded Sakura's heart and crawled her way into it.

"Izanami..."


	8. Power Unleashed, Sakura Reborn!

**Hey guys and welcome to another chapter. I apologise in advance for any repetitiveness that happens in the story. I'm also crap at fight scenes so I hope you can imagine the fight scene as you read it.  
**

 **Another thing is that I've used some Bleach in this as well but only a small part. You'll see what I mean when you read it (I hope anyway). Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. They all belong to their respective creators.**

* * *

"Don't worry Hinata-chan. You won't have to suffer long," the demon chuckled.

The woman's arm slowly started to extend and, like a snake squeezing it's prey, the demon's arm wrapped itself around Hinata's neck and lifted her up. There was no reaction from the ravenette except for the rough breathing and the red cheeks, sweat stilling forming on her forehead. The human in front of her looked completely pathetic but the smile never left the demon woman's face.

She brought the younger girl closer to her and whispered in her ear. "You're so cute, Hinata-chan," the demon spoke. Her long tongue poked out of her mouth and licked the side of Hinata's face, tasting her. She was slightly salty, most liely from the sweat. "I'd love to play with you more," the demon looked down at the girl's open shirt, seeing the girl's chest. She wondered what the raven haired girl's moans would sound like. It was really tempting. "But unfortunately, my need to kill is stronger. And when I'm finished with you, I'll then go and kill that other bitch."

From her free arm, her blade came out from her wrist and then, she slowly started to cock her arm back. She pointed the tip at the ravenette's chest and was about to plunge it into Hinata's heart, but then she noticed the frail girl was looking the other way. "Ha...runo...san..." the girl whispered, but loud enough that the demon heard her. "Thank... you..." she then closed her eyes and smiled.

 _Haruno-san?_ the demon thought for a moment. The face of the pink haired girl then came to mind. _This girl is losing it now_ she smirked wickedly in thought. It was time to put the poor girl out of her misery. Not wasting any more time and saying a quick goodbye, she pushed her cocked arm forward, the blade just about piercing the girl's chest, into her heart.

But she suddenly stopped, the blade's metal tip an inch away from the girl's breast. All of a sudden, she felt a powerful and sinister energy nearby, and for some reason it felt both familiar and unpleasant. Her pupiless eyes widened. _What's with this power!?_ the demon woman thought worriedly. She had never felt something like this before. No, that was wrong. She had felt similar power back at the demon realm, when she was in front of her lord. But why would her lord be here?

All of a sudden, there was a sound of a small explosion coming from her side. When she looked, she saw where the debris of playground equipment was and it was covered, again, in a dust cloud. "Wha-"But before the woman could even finish, she felt a fist colliding with her face. The punch was so strong that, her arm unwrapped itself around Hinata's throat and she was sent flying through the air like a rag doll.

The demon slammed into and broke few trees in the park before she somehow managed to land on her hands and feet. _Damn it_ the woman cursed in her thoughts, putting her hand on face. It hurt. Whatever it was that had punched her was strong enough to inflict damage on her... and would be extremely dead in a moment.

Her pupiless red eyes looked up, seeing who the culprit was who dared to punch her, and her eyes widened. Someone, who was clad in black, was standing there with the ravenette with their arm wrapped around the girl protectively. Getting a good look at the black clad figure, the demon saw that they wore a long, defined, robe-like black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flared out into ragged ends and had white lining and a hood, which was draped over their head. Underneath the overcoat, the figure had a black kimono with cherry blossom petals imprinted on it, with a black divided umanori hakama and white split-toe socks and waraji covering the person's feet.

At first, the reddish-pink demon wondered who the mysterious figure was. But a second later, after seeing a hint of pink underneath the hood, the familiar outfit beneath the overcoat and the demonic looking hand that was holding Hinata, she knew exactly who it was. _No way..._ the demon thought, visibly gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes, her blood boiling. _That can't be..._

* * *

Ever since she got this fever, Hinata didn't know what was going on any more. One moment she was lying on a bench, speaking to her pink haired classmate. Sakura had started to open up to the ravenette a little about her past. But then the next thing she knew, she was watching the pinkette get thrown away by the reddish-pink demon and was then strangled by said demon.

And now, she could feel herself in someone's arm, supporting her body. Slowly, Hinata opened her eyes and saw the person holding her. A person clad in black and a hood covering their head, hiding their features. From her position, she couldn't see underneath the hood, but then again she didn't need to. She didn't know why but in the raven haired girl's heart, she knew who it was underneath all that black and called out that person's name.

"Haruno...san..." Hinata whispered and the figure heard her. They turned their head to the side a bit, in Hinata's direction, and then grabbed their hood with their free hand.

When the hood was pulled down, pink haired flowed out from within it, and emerald and demonic orbs met gentle white ones. Hinata couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips. "Are you alright, Hyuuga?" Sakura asked. The ravenette gave a nod in response to the Sakura's question. She was more than alright now and then before she realized what she was doing, Hinata reached out and cupped the pinkette's cheek.

Sakura looked surprised from the sudden contact but that quickly faded away and she then held that hand with her own. What surprised Hinata next was that Sakura's eyes had become soft and gentle and a genuine smile had formed on her face. She didn't know if it was the fever acting up again, but Hinata's cheeks grew warmer and her heart was beating faster than normal. She couldn't describe what she was feeling at the moment but she knew that it wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest.

"Get some rest Hyuuga," was what Sakura told her, and if the ravenette was honest with herself, she didn't want to. She wanted to keep looking at Sakura's gentle eyes and her warm smile. She wanted to know why she felt like this now. But unfortunately, fatigue from the fever was slowly starting to take over and she tried her best to stay awake. Sakura must have known what Hinata was trying to do, and she squeezed the raventte's hand that was in her's. "Believe in me," she said, never taking her eyes off of Hinata's gentle pools of white.

The ravenette saw the determination in Sakura's eyes. To Hinata, the raven haired girl didn't need to be told to trust the pink haired girl. She already did. Hinata nodded once more and she finally started to let herself rest. Her eyelids began to close and the last thing Hinata saw was Sakura's smile, which said that everything would be alright, before sleep took over.

* * *

When Sakura saw Hinata's eyes close and the hand on her cheek had slackened, she knew that the ravenette had fallen asleep. Satisfied that she was no longer conscious, the pinkette picked up Hinata's limp body, in a princess carry, and placed her back down on the bench she was lying on before.

The pink haired girl observed the ravenette. Hinata's breaths were slightly even, better than what it was before. But the girl was still warm to the touch and it slowly might start up again if Sakura didn't finish this quick. Besides she still needed to treat her classmates wounds also, before they got infected. Sakura's fingertips brushed a few bangs and stray hairs behind the girl's ear and revealed more more of the sleeping girl's face.

The pinkette smiled when she saw Hinata's peaceful features. She then knew, more than anything, that she wanted to protect this girl. When she failed to protect Yukiko, Sakura would make up for by protecting the ravenette. Closing her eyes, Sakura took a deep breath. When she opened them again, her eyes that were once gentle, were now fierce and determined.

"So it was you," a familiar voice said behind Sakura. The pink haired half demon stood up and turned around, her back now facing the sleeping Hyuuga. Standing a few feet away was the, very pissed off, reddish-pink demon. "You still had some hidden power left."

The pink haired girl didn't say anything as she gazed into those pupiless red eyes. Instead, she reached out and black flames appeared in front of her palm, taking the shape of a scythe, before it materialized from the flames. Weapon in hand, the scythe's blade gleamed from the moonlight and Sakura swung the blue tinted weapon weapon to the side effortlessly, like it weighed nothing at all.

"Heh. You might of strengthened up slightly and your appearance might be different," the demon slowly released her blades from her wrists, the one Sakura had destroyed before having come back at full length. The pinkette stared at the demon like she did back when they first fought each other. She was confident again, and that was starting to piss off the demon woman even more. "But that doesn't mean you're stronger than me!"

Finally, the demon had enough. With a war cry that could make people cower and run away, the demonic woman charged at the pink haired girl. Said girl did nothing to indicate she was defending herself, and that only added more fuel to the fire, as it had driven the demon's hatred toward Sakura even further.

When the woman was close enough, she suddenly disappeared from Sakura's line of sight. She reappeared behind the younger demon a split second later in the air, and swung both her blades in a downwards arc. "Dieee!" was what the reddish-pink demon roared out, her blades nearly sinking into the girl's flesh.

But they didn't.

From the last possible second, Sakura turned her body, so her side was facing the demon and blocked the horizontal strike with the scythe's polearm. The ground beneath Sakura caved in slightly from the impact, causing a small crater, showing how strong the demonic woman's strike was.

While their weapons were connected, Sakura took the opening that was set before her and gripped one of the demon's arms. "Wha-!?" was all the demon could get out before the pink haired girl threw the her away from the their current location.

In the air, the demon managed to get upright and when she landed on the ground, her feet were skidding across the grass and dirt. When she finally stopped, the reddish-pink demon started to pant quite a bit. _Damn!_ she cursed inwardly. _How did this little demon brat get so much power?_ That was what all the demon could think about. _It doesn't make any sense!_

She cursed once more, before she looked back up. The pink haired girl continued to just stand there with a stoic expression on her face. "You little bitch..." the demon woman growled in a low voice, venom completely lacing her voice. The demon had reached her limit. This little whore was going to die, slowly. She wanted to see her suffer and she wanted to enjoy every second of it.

Sakura on the other didn't have much time left. She knew the ravenette behind her, sleeping soundly as she was, still had a fever. If she didn't do something now, the fever would only get worse. Plus, she didn't know how long this new power of hers would last, considering the shape Sakura was in before she changed. That's why this fight had to come to an end. _Just hold on little bit longer Hyuuga_ the pinkette said in her thoughts.

Bringing her attention back on the fight, to the demon, Sakura saw the frustration on her face. The pinkette honestly wanted to see that sought of face a bit more. She wanted to see the person who had all the power at the start, who thought that she was stronger than everyone else when she got this new power, come crashing down. That's why what Sakura said next was going to make the demon even more angry than she was now.

"It's all over now demon," she declared. "You've lost."

"What did you say?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've lost? Don't make me laugh!" The demon screamed in rage. "It's not over yet. It's not over until I've killed you and that bitch behind you!" The pink haired girl's eyes narrowed at what the demon said. The woman continued. "Not until I've see you both suffer for humiliating me for so long!" Then, the demon had a wicked smile on her face, an idea popping into her head. "I've got a better idea. I'll just cripple you and then you can only watch as I kill Hinata-chan nice and slow. So you can see the look of pain on her face as she bleeds out. Knowing that you couldn't do anything about it!"

Having finished her little speech of her intentions, the demon woman begun to chuckle, which soon turned into a full on laugh. Sakura's face remained stoic, but if anyone saw her eyes, they could easily tell they were full of anger, bordering on rage. Her exposed demonic eye started to glow. The thought of her sudden power leaving her had escaped her mind completely, and instead, she could feel it flowing through her more than before.

Without saying a word, Sakura leapt forward. She leapt, with incredible speed, all the way to the demon's position and the reddish-pink woman herself stopped laughing, eyes going wide. In one fluid motion, Sakura swung her scythe diagonally, from the demon's hip to her shoulder, and blood started to spurt out from the wound that had been created.

The horned demon was speechless for a moment, her wide, pupiless eyes watching the blood spurt. That's when her brain had finally caught up on what was going on. She had been injured. The pink haired girl had inflicted a blow on the demon. When she realized that, the demonic woman took a step back, and then another, her hand reaching up to touch her body. When she raised the hand up, she saw that it was covered entirely of crimson.

 _Blood?_ she said in her thoughts. But it wasn't just any blood. It was _her_ blood. "How dare you..." she spoke in a whisper. The demon woman furrowed her brow and gritted her teeth, anger starting to take over rational thought. "I'll kill you... I'll kill you..." The demon then bent her body forward, before she launched herself upon the pinkette, screaming, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Sakura, too, launched herself at the demon, matching her speed. And when the both of them were close enough, they both swung their weapons at the other, blade and scythe clashing.

The demon swung her bladed wrists wildly. Her lust for killing the pink haired half-demon was too strong for any sane thought she had remaining. Horizontal spinning slashes, vertical strikes, a diagonal uppercut slash, the reddished pink demon launched every attack possible, hoping that one of her blades would draw this girl's blood.

Sakura on the other hand, easily blocked and parried every attack with ease using her scythe's blade and polearm. The demon's attacks were really disorganized. The pinkette knew that she just let instinct take over rational thought, and that was the demon woman's downfall.

The pink haired girl sighed inwardly, the anger in her eyes just a moment ago, slowly leaving her. Sakura knew that it was time to really end this fight. It was really sad to see, even for Sakura, that the demon let her pride get the best of her.

When the next wave of attacks came, Sakura quickly vanished into thin air. The demon stumbled, her blades hitting nothing and she started to look around frantically with wide eyes. She didn't have to look for very long though, as she suddenly felt a shadow from above.

The half-demon was up in the air, her large scythe glinting in the moonlight behind her. Then gravity took hold and Sakura started to descend. And as she was falling, the pinkette raised her scythe across her body. When she was close enough to her target, she swung her weapon at the demon, who raised her own arm, trying to block the incoming attack.

But the demon didn't.

Just as the two metal blades were about to meet, the pinkette somehow dodged the demon's blade and instead, her scythe's blade went through reddish-pink flesh. The scythe's blade went through the demon's skin like butter, and cleanly severed her arm, the limb falling on the floor with a thud.

There was no scream however, which would normally come after losing a limb. The demon was different. She stood there with wide eyes for a moment, before she gripped her now stumped arm and fell to the ground on her knees, the other blade retracting itself.

After landing on the ground, Sakura stared at the now downed demon. There was only silence between the two. The only noise heard was from the rustling leaves, as they were blown by the night wind's. After a few more seconds, the one armed demon finally broke the silence. She punched the ground, hard, flattening a small patch of grass.

"Why!?" she shouted, and then started to punch the ground repeatedly. "Why!? Why can't I beat you!? Why!?"

"It doesn't matter now. It's over," Sakura said. "You're finished." The demon woman looked up and glared at the pinkette, or tried to. The thing she saw first was the blade of the pink haired girl's scythe, which was an inch away from her face. Said scythe was then slowly raised into the air, once again gleaming in the moonlight. "Farewell," Sakura said her goodbyes, swinging down her bladed polearm down upon her enemy, and hopefully putting an end to a long fight.

"Haruno-san..."

Sakura's eyes widened when she heard the small whisper of her name, and thanks to that, her scythe stopped mid-swing, again just about an inch away from the demon's face. _What am I doing?_ she questioned herself. The pinkette had been so absorbed into killing the demon that she nearly forgot what was more important.

Hyuuga Hinata's safety.

Without even having to think about it, Sakura's scythe disappeared in black flames. Her outfit, too, was covered in black flames until they disappeared also, leaving her back into her tattered school uniform. The pinkette then turned on her heel and started to move away from the demon woman.

She made her way to the bench where Hinata was laying upon and peered at the girl's face. The raven haired girl was still unconscious and when Sakura put the palm of her hand on the girl's forehead, Sakura gasped, eyes wide. The girl's temperature had gotten extremely hot, which could have only meant that Hinata's fever was getting worse. _Damn!_ she cursed in her thoughts, hating herself for letting Hinata's condition get to this stage.

Whatever Sakura had to do, she had to do it fast. The pinkette knelt down and wrapped an arm underneath the girl's shoulders and then wrapped the other under the girl's knees, picking her up in a princess carry. But before she took a step however, the demon behind her spoke.

"Hey," she said, the pinkette turning her head so she could see the woman from the corner of her eyes. "What do you think you're doing? You're not going to finish me off?"

Sakura furrowed her brow. "Believe me. If I could, I'd kill you in a heartbeat," she replied.

"So why don't you?"

The pink haired girl turned her gaze from the defeated demon, to the girl in her arms. To Sakura, the answer to that question was easy. She turned her sights back to the demon kneeling on the floor and said, "I've got something more important to do."

That was all she said before the demon just watched her jump, high into the air and landing on the street before she jumped again. After having losing sight of the pink haired half blood, the reddish-pink demon started to glare in the direction that the girl went. Anger starting to build up inside her. This was the second time that the pinkette had humiliated her. _And this will be the last time_ the demon promised herself before a pool of darkness had appeared underneath her and she disappeared from the park, a low menacing chuckle escaping past her lips.


	9. The Tears of A Demon

**Hey guys, and welcome back to another chapter. I just want you guys to know that I'm not going to put this story in to parts (e.g. Demonic Love I, Demonic Love II etc.) Instead it's just going to be Demonic Love, so... expect this story to be long. I've also figured out how to put the ū in Hyūga so you'll be seeing that from now on.**

 **Anyway, I apologise for any repetitiveness, grammar mistakes and my poor writing. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. Just any OCs I use.**

* * *

Hyūga Hinata's slowly started to open. In front of her was a very familiar ceiling and after a moment, the ravenette slowly sat up. _What am I...?_ she thought to herself, looking around and taking in her surroundings. After having her fill of looking around, she realized that she was in her bed, in her room, which must of meant that she was in her house.

 _How did I get here?_ Hinata wondered. She searched through her memories, trying to think how she ended up in her bedroom, and that's when she finally remembered. She remembered being stabbed by the reddish-pink skinned, demon woman, getting a fever and seeing Sakura's gentle expression before she lost conciousness. Hinata then brought her hand up to her abdomen and touched the place that she had been stabbed. The wound didn't hurt any more, and the ravenette wondered if it was bad, that she would have to hide it.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Hinata undone some buttons of her pyjama top, exposing her abdomen to the chilled night air and looked at where the demonic woman had impaled her. _There's nothing there_ she thought in amazement. There was no hole, no scar, nothing to indicate that she had been hurt at all.

Feeling satisfied, she then started to button herself up again, but as she did, a thought then suddenly hit her. _Wait_ she paused, and then looked at her attire. She was wearing her purple pyjamas with white polka dots stitched into them. _How did I get into my pyjamas?_ She defiantly remembered losing conciousness, so there was no way she could have dressed herself.

The answer to her question was soon answered however, when Hinata's bedroom door opened. Coming through it, who Hinata was not expecting at all, was Sakura and the pinkette was holding a bowl of water with towels inside it. "Haruno-san?" Hinata found herself calling out.

Sakura had managed to close the door with her foot when she heard her name being called, and she looked towards the ravenette's bed. Her eyes widened when she saw the Hyūga girl sitting up in her bed with a surprised expression on her face. "Hyūga!" the pinkette cried out, quickly making her way to the bed, but at the same time, trying not to spill the water that was in the bowl. She set the bowl on the night stand next to Hinata's bed and sat on the bed. "Are you alright?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Y-Yes," Hinata replied back, still surprised. What was shocking of all was the sincerity in her voice, when she asked the question. "Did you bring me here, Haruno-san?" Sakura gave a nod to her question. "I see,"Hinata said, then a thought came to the raven haired girl. "Wait. I never told you where I lived. How did you know?" Did she mention it when she tried to talk to pinkette at school?

When Hinata asked that question, Sakura turned her gaze away. She paused for a moment before she spoke. "When you walked home on the night you first got attacked," she said, still not looking into the ravenette's eyes. "I followed you home. Sorry."

The raven haired girl found it strange that she apologised, even though she had nothing to be sorry for. The half demon girl probably looked away and apologised thinking that she would get scolded for following her home. But, to Hinata, that wasn't the case. She felt warm and fuzzy on the inside, knowing the fact that Sakura, despite giving her the cold shoulder at school, was making sure that she was safe.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Haruno-san," Hinata said as she smiled. "Thank you for watching over me."

Sakura's gaze was still turned away from the ravenette, but Hinata could see a hint of red coming from the girl's cheeks. The raven haired girl covered her mouth with her hand, hoping to stop the giggle that escaped her mouth. It didn't, and that made Sakura's cheeks redden even more.

 _Wait_ Hinata thought, again something popping into her head, causing her to stop mid-giggle. _If I was unconscious, and Haruno-san was here with me the entire time. Does that mean..._ When that came into her mind, she could feel her own face starting to heat up. "Um...Haruno-san," she called out, and Sakura reluctantly looked up. "These pyjama's that I'm wearing," she motioned to her attire. "Did you by any chance put them on me?"

"That's right," was the immediate response she got from the pink haired girl.

When she got that blunt reply, Hinata cast her own gaze downwards and her cheeks were now completely red and inflamed. _H-How embarrassing!_ she cried out inwardly. Even though she still had her underwear on and Sakura was a girl, it was still embarrassing to let someone see her naked body.

"Hyūga?" Sakura called out.

Hinata looked up from the call of her name, with her red cheeks and saw the worried expression that was on her classmate's face. "W-What is it Haruno-san?" Hinata stuttered, cursing herself for doing so.

"Your fever is coming back isn't it?" she asked.

"I-I'm fine, really," Hinata replied back, waving her hands in front of her. If Sakura knew the reason why she was blushing profusely, she'd be even more embarrassed.

Even though she said that, Sakura looked like she had a hard time believing her and the next thing the pinkette did, made the raven haired girl go stiff as a board. Reaching out with her hands, Sakura cupped both of Hinata's cheeks and brought her face closer. "H-H-Haruno-" the ravenette's words were cut off as the pinkette placed her forehead on hers.

Hinata could feel her face burning up even more and, if she moved her head slightly, she'd end up kissing Sakura because they were that close to each other.

"You're burning up!" Sakura said worriedly, removing her hands from Hinata's face and began to reach out for the bowl of water on the night stand. But before she could grab the semi-circled object, another pair of hands grasped her own, stopping her half-way, and when she looked back, her gaze met a smiling Hinata.

"I'm fine really," the girl reassured her. "I was just a little surprised, that's all. My fever has gone down a lot thanks to you. So really I'm fine."

The ravenette laughed nervously after those words and Sakura was slightly confused as to why she would be surprised in the first place, but gave her a nod and then sat back down on the bed. Silence then soon filled the room, both girl's not knowing what to say next. The silence was awkward for the pinkette, due to the fact that she didn't know what to say to the girl in front of her. And Hinata was still slightly embarrassed to say anything.

But she knew that the silence couldn't continue. Just as she was about to speak however, to the ravenette's surprise, it was Sakura that had finally broken the silence between them. "Back then," she spoke, "did you mean what you said?"

"What... I said?" Hinata repeated, her cheeks returning to their original colour and the embarrassment completely forgotten about.

Sakura nodded. "When I talked about my reason for fighting the demons, " she added. "You said that it upset you. Did you mean that?"

The pinkette's gaze never wavered once she asked her question. Was Sakura still unsure about what Hinata had said at the park? The serious look that she was giving the ravenette was a clear sign that she was. Hinata cast her gaze down and thought for a moment. How could she prove that what she said was true?

 _That's it!_ Hinata thought to herself, as an idea popped into her head. Without saying a word to the pink haired girl, the ravenette pulled the covers away from her body and stepped out of her bed. Sakura's gaze followed Hinata as the girl walked up to her mirrored, vanity table that was across the room and opened one of the draws. The pinkette watched as Hinata started to rummage through the wooden box, and when she found what she was looking for, she smiled.

Turning around, Sakura's classmate hid whatever she found behind her back and spoke to her. "Hey Haruno-san," she called out to her. "Could you close your eyes for a moment?"

The half demon girl gave the raven haired girl a quizzical look, but she complied and closed her eyes. Hinata, seeing that Sakura had done what she was told, started to make her way towards her and, when she was in front of the other girl, she placed what she had hidden behind her back on top of Sakura's head, through her hair.

"There," she said, "you can open your eyes now."

Again, Sakura complied, and when her eyes opened, she reached up to the object that was in her hair. "A hairband?" Sakura asked questionably, her fingers lightly touching the hard, but soft, material that was on her head.

Hinata nodded happily, and then, unexpectedly, she reached out and grasped Sakura's hands, causing the girl to go wide eyed. "Come here," she said, bringing the pinkette to her feet and made their way back to the vanity desk.

She sat Sakura down in front of the vanity's mirror and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Okay. Now, one last thing, Haruno-san. Could you... open your other eye?"

Sakura let out a "Huh?" in response. She hadn't even realized that she had closed it the entire time. She must have kept it closed after her fight with the demon woman and completely forgot about it.

The pinkette looked at the mirror's reflection, specifically: Hinata's reflection. She looked at Sakura with gentle eyes and had smile to match it. It was like she was silently telling her that it was all right. She turned her gaze away from the vanity's mirror, for a moment, and was lost in thought. After a few seconds, having come up to a decision, Sakura slowly and timidly, opened her left eye, revealing the demonic orb that was hidden underneath.

When her eye was fully opened, she looked back at Hinata's reflection and saw that the gentle eyes and smile hadn't left her face. "There," she said. "Now you look even more cute than you were before, Haruno-san."

Sakura went wide eyed at that comment. That was the first time, in a long time, that anyone had called her cute. When the pinkette first came to the human realm, she once tried to play with the other kids. Her arm's were covered by a long top so she didn't have to worry about exposing her arm. But when they saw her strange looking eye, they all started to call her names. Even the adults, that got a good glimpse of it, made no attempt to interact with her and made sure their children stayed away.

But the girl behind her was different than those children and adults.

The raven haired girl then did another thing that completely surprised Sakura. From behind, Hinata wrapped her arms around the pink haired girl's neck, enveloping her in a warm embrace. "No matter what people said about you in the past," Hinata continued, like she had read the pink haired girl's mind. "To me, in my eyes, you'll always look beautiful, Haruno-san."

Hearing those warm, soothing words, Sakura could feel her eyes starting to water. "H-Hyūga..." she began to choke on the ravenette's name.

"Hinata," the other girl interrupted. "We're friends now right? So you can call me Hinata."

The tears that have gathered in Sakura's eyes had now started to flow down her cheeks, down to her chin and then landing on the arms that were wrapped around her. Hinata didn't care that her arms were now getting wet from tears. Instead, she tightened her embrace. "It's alright Haruno-san," Hinata said in a gentle voice. "You've been alone this entire time right? So... if you want to cry, then cry. Let it all out, and know that I'll be there for you, just like you have been for me."

Even more tears had started to come out from Sakura's eyes and she began to tremble in Hinata's arms. "Hi...na...ta..." she said the name slowly at first, testing it. When she said the name out loud, it felt nice. It felt right. It was something that she couldn't explain. But when she said it, more tears sprouted forth, replacing the old ones. "Hinata..." She shook even more in the girl's arms. "Hinataaa!"

And at that moment, like the dam being broken, she started to cry, hard. She turned her body and clung onto the raventte's clothing like a child and cried out loud, burying her head into the other girl's chest. Everything that she had bottled up, was released all at once. Hinata closed her eyes and let the pinkette have her moment. She hugged the girl in her arms slighty tighter, to reasure her that she was there for her and that she wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

In the demon realm, sitting upon his throne, the young man with black hair had been watching the fight between Haruno Sakura and the demonic woman with his demon vision. He had felt an all to familiar power a moment before and he couldn't help himself to find it. He had watched the fight with delight, and when it had finished with the pink haired girl's victory, the young man's glowing demonic eyes soon became dim and he began to smirk.

 _So she's finally awakened, huh..._

At that moment, a pool of darkness suddenly appeared in front of him, and like last time it appeared, a figure started to emerge from it. It was no surprise that it was the demon woman from before and like he saw in his vision, when she fully materialized from the pool, she was wounded.

"What happened?" he asked the demon knowingly, leaning his face on his fist. He couldn't help himself from asking.

"That pink haired bitch," the woman cursed. "I don't know how she did it, but she managed to gain even more power than she had before."

"So you decided to come scurrying back here? he continued. "And then let me guess, you want a bit more of my power?"

The reddish-pink skinned woman paused for a moment, the young man hitting the nail on the head. A cold sweat went down the demon's back, and she daringly looked up, meeting her Lord's demonic gaze with her red pupiless eyes. "J-Just a bit more," she stuttered pathetically. "I'll kill her this time for sure!"

The young man just smirked at the bold statement that the snivelling demon before him had said and silently, stood up. At first, the demon woman let a small smile fall on her lips, but that smile immediately vanished when she saw the black haired man reach behind his waist and pull out a thin sword.

"M-My Lord?" the woman spoke out, in a nervous way. She didn't like where this was going.

"My apologises," he said, his mouth curving curving into another grin. "But unfortunately for you, you're no use to me any more."

"No use to you?" the demon repeated. She could feel her blood boil from rage and started to clench her hands into fist. "So you're just going to kill me!? Is that it!?" she yelled. The woman glared hard at the man she called her 'Lord'. If he thought that she would just sit there and die, he had another thing coming! _Thankfully I've still got some of his power. Which means I might be able to hold out until-_

"Pathetic," a voice from behind cut her out of her thoughts. The demon went wide eyed and, not a moment later, she felt something sharp pierce through her chest. Looking down, she saw the tip of a sword which impaled her, and then, moving her head like a robot, turned her head to look behind her. The black haired man was staring at her with a emotionless eyes. _When did he-!?_

"Chidori..." as he spoke those words, a spark of blue lightning appeared in his gripped hands and then, it transferred to the sword and began to electrocute the impaled demon. Her screams echoed the throne room as thousands of volts coursed through her body.

Her screams last for a while longer before the young lord stopped. He then took out his sword from the woman, and she fell to her knees, smoke sizzling from her body. Her ragged breathing told the young man that she was still alive. He made his way around the demon until he was in front of her. Slowly, she turned her pupiless gaze up and met the young man's demonic orbs. The look he had was the same look the Haruno girl gave her, and his speed was unmatched. And thanks to that, something clicked in her head.

"Don't... tell me..." she said in between laboured breaths. "That... girl... she's..."

The black haired man smirked, as if to tell her what she was about to say was right. Then, not missing a beat, his eyes began to glow and with a "Amaterasu..." leaving his lips, black flames suddenly engulfed the demonic woman and her screams, again, echoed. But this time it didn't stop. Her screams kept going. And going. And going.

It kept going until finally, the demon was nothing but black ash on the young man's floor. The young lord's eyes started to dim, closed his eyes and then, sheathed his sword.

"How brutal..." a voice from behind spoke. This voice belonged to a man that irked the young lord to no end. He turned his head and saw the man, with pale skin, walking out from behind the massive chair. His long black hair, snake eyes and bony-like facial features would make any human or lesser demon cower in fear. "If you had kept her alive," he continued, "I could have used her body for my experiments. Or maybe, because she had some of your power, you were afraid that I would exploit it. Am I right... Sasuke-kun?" he started to chuckle.

Uchiha Sasuke glared at the snake eyed man. He was the only one, out of the entire demon realm, who wasn't afraid to call him by name. If it wasn't for the fact that the Sasuke needed this insane man in the first place, he would have been killed him on the spot. "What is it you have come for, Orochimaru?"

The pale man Sasuke referred to as Orochimaru, just chuckled once more. "Nothing really," he responded. "I had originally come for that demon you just killed, but alas." With that, Orochimaru turned on his heel and left, walking through the shadows and seemingly disappeared.

When he was gone from sight, Sasuke closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Sarada," he called out a name and almost immediately, he felt a presence behind him. Turning to look, he saw a girl kneeling before him. She had shoulder length oynx hair, which was parted to the right and she wore a red, sleeveless qipao shirt. She also wore pair of light-coloured shorts, dark purple thigh-length stockings, black open-toed sandals and long dark purple arm warmers. The girl's name was Uchiha Sarada, and she was Sasuke's daughter, one of many.

"Yes, father," she replied back to her summons.

"Go and gather your brothers and sisters, we have something to discuss."

"Yes," Sarada replied, and just like how she entered, she disappeared into thin air, like she was never there to begin with.

With her gone, Sasuke made his way back to his throne and sat down, his head resting on his fist. _Now then. I wonder how things will turn out... This is going to be fun._ the oynx haired man thought to himself, chuckling as he did.

* * *

 **And there you have it. I'm sorry if it was too boring for some people. I decided to make this chapter was a more relaxed one. Well except for the part of the little fight action between Sasuke and the demon. Anyway, please review, and I would appreciate any constructive criticism. Even one nice comment or review makes me keep going with this. And lastly, please check out my other stories that I'm in the progress of writing: Kunoichi's Stolen Heart and Dragon Ball Xenoverse: Resurrection of Frieza.**

 **Thanks again!**


	10. A New Friendship, A New Beginning

**Hey guys, sorry for the late update to this story. Working on three stories at the same time is hard work. And I really want to start one of my other stories but I'm going to hold off on that.**

 **As usual, I'll apologise in advance, for any grammar mistakes, my way of writing and any repetitiveness. Also this is quite a long chapter, so I'm sorry if it starts to get boring.**

 **Anyway, on to the story. Enjoy! (I hope!)**

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The next morning soon came and the sun's rays gleamed through the gaps of the closed curtains of Hinata's room, at the Hyūga household. Then, the sound of an alarm clock rang loudly in the room, and from underneath the covers of the bed next to it, a hand reached out and turned it off. The noisy room became quiet once more and when it did, Hinata slowly sat up. Her vision was a blur so she rubbed her eyes and got the sleep out of them, and her sight had becoming clearer.

"Time to get up already?" she asked out loud to herself.

She stretched her body and a yawn escaped her lips as she did. _I'd best get ready before Tenten comes_ she thought. But just as she was about to leave her bed, the sound of even breathing could be heard next to her and when she turned to look, a gentle smile appeared on her face. Laying there, still in her summer uniform and with the headband in her hair, was Sakura. She was sleeping on her side, facing in the ravenette's direction and Hinata thought that the pink haired girl looked extremely cute sleeping and didn't really want to wake her up.

Thinking that, the ravenette thought back to the events of last night.

* * *

 _She didn't know how much time had passed, but both girl's had made their way to the bed and Sakura's cries had become simple whimpers. Once the pinkette was calm enough to talk, Hinata released her from her embrace, and Sakura started to wipe away any stray tears from her cheeks. "Sorry," the pink haired demon apologised._

 _"It's alright Haruno-san," Hinata reasured her with a gentle smile. "Are you okay now?"_

 _"I'm fine," she replied, and then paused for a moment. "Also... you can call me Sakura."_

 _"Sakura..." Hinata spoke slowly, tasting the name on her tongue. It felt nice and she then smiled. "Alright then, Sakura-chan it is."_

 _"Chan?" said with an confused expression._

 _"No good?" the ravenette asked, but Sakura shook her head._

 _"No," Sakura replied. The girl then turned her gaze away. "I'm fine with it._

 _The pink haired girl's cheeks began to glow crimson and even though the room was dark, Hinata could still notice it and she began to giggle._

 _"W-why are you laughing," Sakura stuttered._

 _"Sorry, sorry," the raven haired girl apologised. "It's just that you're so cute Sakura-chan!" The pinkette became even redder than before from those words and she couldn't look Hinata in the eye. But when a little finger was in her line of sight, she turned back. "Then let's promise," she continued. "From now on and forever, we're friends."_

 _Sakura's eyes widened at the girl's statement and looked at the finger that was extended to her. She smiled at the thought and with a "Yes" and a nod, Sakura wrapped her own little finger around Hinata's and made the promise. And from then on, both girl's knew that their lives would change completely._

* * *

Hinata smiled at the memory and then stretched her limbs once more.

"Maybe I'll go and make breakfast," she said. It had been a while since she had woken up on time and made breakfast for herself. Hopefully her skills hadn't de-graded too much. With that thought, Hinata began to get out of bed... or so she thought.

As she was getting out, the hem of her pyjama top got snagged on something. "Huh?" Looking down, Hinata saw Sakura's hand gripping her pyjama top. _Is she awake?_ "Sakura-chan?" the raven haired girl called out. She waited for second but didn't get a reply. Instead, she got even breathing, which meant she was still sleeping. The ravenette again smiled at the sleeping girl next to her. _Maybe five more minutes wouldn't hurt._

With that in mind, Hinata got back into bed and as she got comfortable, Sakura suddenly started to move. She shifted closer to the white eyed girl and nestled herself onto her. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden closeness and her heart began to beat faster, her cheeks began to blush a crimson hue.

Looking at the demon girl up close, Hinata was reminded at how really cute the girl was, and thanks to the sunlight that was passing through the gaps of her curtains, it hit Sakura's pink hair, making her glow. And that made her even more elegant to look at.

Subconsciously, Hinata reached out with her hand and begun to stroke the pinkette's pink locks. "Soft," Hinata found herself saying quietly, continuing to stroke the girl's hair. At that moment, Sakura began to smile in her sleep. Seeing that innocent smile made the ravenette's smile grow even more, but she could feel sleep slowly starting to take over, and, not even trying to fight it, Hinata closed her eyes. The feeling of Sakura's warm body pressed against her's felt nice and that was the final push needed to send Hinata to the land of dreams.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, after Hinata fell back to asleep, the sound of her front door, opening and closing, could be heard from downstairs and her name being called out after. Footsteps came up the stairs and, after a moment, the bedroom door opened. "Hinata!" cried the voice of Hiramatsu Tenten, as the twin bunned girl entered the room. When the brunette saw the lump that was underneath the covers, Tenten couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Hinata, are you still a sleep?" she asked but knew the answer to.

There was no reply back from her childhood friend, which she knew would happen, and let out another sigh before she made her way to the bed. A sense of déjà-vu took over Tenten as she grasped the covers of the ravenette's bed. "It's time to wake up," she said in a sing-song voice, "Hinata-chan!"

In a swift single motion, the covers were pulled away and Tenten froze on the spot, her eyes widening at something that she was never expecting see. "Wha... Wha... Wha..." was what Tenten could only say at that moment. With her very own eyes she saw, laying there, her best friend. And next to her best friend was a pink haired girl. More specifically, it was the new transfer student, Haruno Sakura and the pair of them were sleeping soundly, as they were snuggling into each other.

Tenten soon finally started to process what was going on in front of her and as soon as she did, she took in a deep breath and then, finding her voice, shouted from the top of her lungs, which made the whole house shake itself.

"WHAT IS THISSS!

* * *

At Konoha High for girls, in the classroom labelled 2-B, Tenten was sitting at her desk with her head leaning against her hand and was staring into space. _What on earth was that about?_ the brunette wondered to herself. She thought about what had happened at the Hyūga household earlier before.

After she saw Haruno Sakura and Hinata snuggling with one another, she had froze and just drew a blank. Then, she screamed out loud, causing the pair to wake up. From what Hinata told her, she and the Haruno girl had finally become friends after settling their differences.

Tenten didn't understand, and she knew that the ravenette wasn't telling her something, but she decided to leave it at that. She would eventually tell her, right? Afterwards, Hinata told the brunette to go ahead to school and that she would catch up. She did so, and now she was just sitting at her desk, waiting for her friend to arrive. "She's late," the brunette whispered.

"Hey did you hear what happened last night?"

Just then, the sound of Tenten's classmates could be heard. They were all gossiping about something, to which, the brunette didn't know. "About the explosion last night?"

The girl nodded to that answer. "Yeah. A construction site suddenly collapsed and they say that they couldn't find the cause."

Then another girl joined in the conversation. "Something also happened in the park. There was a crater in the middle of the park and no one knows how it got there!"

As those words escaped the girl's lips, the door to the room opened and Tenten instantly looked toward it, hoping to see her raven haired friend. However, it was just her homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi. "Okay everyone, take your seats," the white haired man said. "Homeroom's starting."

As he commanded, all the girl's that had been busy talking to their classmates took their seats, and Kakashi made his way to the podium at the front. When the one eyed teacher looked at his class full of girls, he noticed that two of his students were missing. "Huh? Are Hyūga-san, and Haruno-san absent today?" the man asked to no one in particular.

The girl's began to murmur with each other. They all knew that it wasn't like Hinata to be late for school, even if she would wake up late herself. And as for Haruno Sakura, they didn't know very well but they probably knew that the transfer wouldn't want to make a bad impression with her attendance, right?

As the class continued to murmur to themselves, the door to the classroom suddenly slid open, and through it, came the raven haired girl in question. "I'm... really sorry... I'm late Kakashi-sensei," Hinata apologised, breathing heavily.

"Hyūga-san," Kakashi called out to her, cocking an eyebrow. "Why are you late for homeroom?"

"Sorry Sensei," Hinata apologised once more, "but I have got an important announcement to make."

"Hmmm," the white haired man hummed in amusement. "And what's this announcement you think is so important?" he asked.

"Right," Hinata replied back. Then, looking to her left, she motioned whoever it was next to her to come towards her. "Come on," she spoke in a gentle caring voice.

With that, the person that had been hiding came into view, and made her way inside the classroom. She walked up to the blackboard, hearing the other girl's gasps and feeling their eyes on her, stopped and faced the other students. Even Tenten, who had been worried about her friend only moments ago, couldn't help but stare.

The person was Haruno Sakura, there was no doubt about that. But when she looked, Tenten could see why the other girl's gasped at the sight. The pink haired transfer student had a familiar headband on her head and instead of white gauze wrapped around her left eye, it was replaced with an medical eye patch. The same thing with her left arm. Instead of gauze, she wore an one armed sleeve top underneath her summer uniform's shirt that stopped at her wrist, her left hand was still covered with gauze however.

But from what she saw, the pink haired girl looked more... normal. A huge difference to when she came in wrapped in gauze, like she had been in an accident.

At the the front of the class, Sakura began to fidget. She was rubbing her sleeved arm and was avoiding everybody's gazes and they all found it strange. They all thought it weird that the girl, who had been cold and rude to them when she first joined, was now becoming embarrassed of the attention that she was now getting.

"Ummm," Sakura began meekly, unsure of what to say. But then, taking a deep breath, she suddenly bowed her head and cried out, "I-I'm very sorry!"

Everyone was surprised at the sudden apology, except for Hinata who had a smile on her face. Before she and Sakura had fallen a sleep the other night, they had talked about many things. One of them being that Sakura wanted to apologise to her classmates for being so cold. And hopefully, if they would allow it, they could start over. Hearing her say that warmed the raven haired girl's heart. Doing something like that, brought joy to Hinata.

"I want to apologise to everyone," Sakura continued, her head still low. "I'm sorry for being rude and cold, especially to the ones that tried to become friends with me. And if you'll allow it, I would like to be able to reintroduce myself." Sakura straightened her back, and turned her emerald gaze towards her teacher's black one.

Kakashi, seeing the girl's determination through her gaze, sighed under his breath. _Might as well get it over with_ he thought, and with it, he gave his nod of approval.

Sakura, also giving a nod, turned back toward her class and put her hands in front of her skirt. "Good morning everyone," she began with a greeting. "My name is Haruno Sakura and I'm sixteen years old, so which will probably make me one of the youngest in the class. I don't have many hobbies and... I recently made friends with Hyūga-san," the ravenette smiled at that, "and I'm hoping, that one day, we can all become friends as well. So..." the pink haired girl lowered her head into a bow once more. "Please take care of me!"

The entire room went silent after Sakura's introduction and as her head was low, the pinkette's emerald coloured eye was tightly closed, as she prayed for everything to go well. The classroom continued to remain quiet as all the girls looked to one another, wondering what they should do.

When the silence kept going, Sakura began to lose hope. _Maybe it's too late_ was what she thought. Maybe the damage that she had already done, could never be repaired. It was understandable. After all, she did-

 _CLAP...! CLAP...! CLAP...!_

Sakura's eye opened up and widened when she heard the sound of someone beginning to clap. Raising her head, the pinkette could see one of her classmates clapping with a gentle smile on her face and Sakura could hardly believe what was happening. All the other girl's looked upon that girl and in the next moment, another girl also began to clap. And following their example, one by one, another girl would clap, until eventually every girl did the same thing.

While the applause echoed around the room, Sakura turned toward Hinata, who was still near the door, and saw the ravenette smile at her. And, as soon as she saw that, the pinkette's shocked face quickly became a smile, which in Hinata's eyes shone brightly.

After that, the rest of the school day went by like normal, except now everyone in the classroom had begun to talk to Sakura in between breaks and during lunch and the pinkette happily returned the conversation with a smile and Hinata could tell that the pink haired girl was having fun while doing so.

Once school had finished for the day, Hinata and Sakura began to make their way home together, saying their goodbyes to anyone they know along the way. "You know," Hinata spoke up as soon as they left through the gate. "I never knew that you were younger than me."

"Really?" Sakura replied, a surprised look on her face.

"Yup," she said. "When I first met you, you had the air of maturity, so I couldn't tell. Also, had I'd known, I would have called you Haruno-chan instead of Haruno-san." The ravenette then began to giggle with an gentle expression. The last part was a joke. No matter what her age was she still would have shown her respect.

While she laughed, Sakura suddenly stopped in her tracks and the raven haired girl stopped giggling and noticed, she too stopped and turned to look at her. The pinkette's head was low, so her bangs were casting a shadow on her face. Hinata began to worry. "Sakura-chan?" she called out. The ravenette wondered if she had something wrong and if she did, she would apologise.

"Thank you..." But she stopped herself when she heard the words of gratitude come from the younger girl. She continued. "Thank you, Hinata," she repeated herself. "Because of you, I was able to apologise to everyone and..." she gave a pause. "For always sticking by me. Even though I was so cold to you and I threatened you, you still never gave up on me. So... thank you Hinata, for everything!"

With that, Sakura raised her head and showed the ravenette a bright, and most genuine, smile that Hinata had ever seen on the pink haired girl's face. To her, the smile on her face looked absolutely radiant and her cheeks began to blush up to her ears and her heart had begun to beat faster than normal. She even had butterflies in her stomach. _Why?_ Hinata thought. _Why do I feel like this?_

Thinking about it, this sort of feeling had happened before. It happened when she saw Sakura save a cat from the tree, when she saw for the first time, the smile and laughter the pinkette had. And the other time was when she was saved from the demon that attacked her. The gentle gaze and smile she received from the pink haired demon girl wasn't an illusion she saw, and she knew the fever wasn't the cause for her heart to beat fast that time either.

And now she was feeling it all over the again, from just seeing the girl in front of her smile a true smile.

"Hinata?"

Her name being called out, the ravenette was brought back to reality and she noticed that Sakura was looking at her with another worried look."Are you alright?" she asked, moving slightly closer. "Your face is completely red." Then her eye widened. "Don't tell me you have another fever!"

Before Hinata could get a word in, Sakura had already proceeded to move the raven haired girl's bangs to the side and placed her forehead on her's. "S-S-Sakura-chan!" Hinata stuttered. The girl could feel her face warm up even more, to the point of burning. And the fact that the person that caused her face to heat up in the first place was filling her vision, wasn't helping things. Subconsciously, she looked down, towards Sakura's pink lips, and Hinata thought that they looked extremely soft. She wondered what they would taste like... _What am I thinking?!_

"You're extremely hot," the pinkette said, bringing Hinata back to her senses.

"I-I'm fine!" she said, finally managing to move away.

She turned herself around, her back now facing Sakura, and took in a few deep breaths, trying her best to calm her pounding heart. _Calm down_ she told herself in her thoughts and when it did subside slightly, she took in another breath and slowly exhaled, mentally slapping her own cheeks. She then turned to face Sakura, who looked like she had a question mark above her, and smiled at her.

"Come on," she said, extending her hand out to the pinkette. "Let's go shopping before all the stores close."

"Shopping?" Sakura repeated. "What for?"

"For you of course," she stated, like it should have been common knowledge. "You're going to be living with me now, right? So you're going to need things like clothes, underwear and all the other necessities."

That was one of the other things that the two had discussed that night. Hinata had found out that Sakura had been living on top of buildings when she arrived in Konohagakure, and when it came to washing herself, she would sneak into unoccupied houses and use there bathroom. Hinata was quite shocked hear that and that was when she came up with an idea. That Sakura should come and live with her, as she lived by herself.

Thanks to the school, who knew of her living conditions, they offered to help with some of the living expenses, and she was allowed to get a part time job for her other expenses like food or clothing. Hinata knew that she could never thank them enough for it. The pinkette refused at first, thinking that she would only be a hindrance. But after some persuasion, Sakura finally agreed to it.

The pink haired girl looked at the hand that was being offered to her and a small smiled appeared on her lips. "Yeah," Sakura said, giving the ravenette a nod. She then grasped the older girl's hand. It felt warm and when her fingers had wrapped around Hinata's hand, she felt herself being pulled. Together, they walked hand in hand and smiled as they both began starting their new lives together.

* * *

Meanwhile. On top of the roof of Konoha High, six figures, two boys and four girls where standing there, watching the duo that had left the school grounds. They all wore matching black cloaks with red clouds that were imprinted on them.

"Is that really Sakura-chan?" one them, a girl, spoke out, as she crouched down. The girl who spoke had short, black, bob cut hair and slightly pale skin. Her eyes were a light blue and her pupils were into black slits. And to top it off, she had furry ears on the top of her head, giving her the appearence of a cat. "I barely recognised her, she's changed that much." The girl's eyes turned to the person on her left. "Don't you think so, Tayuya-nēchan?"

The person the girl called Tayuya, just stared at the two girl's walking along. The girl had long, untamed, dark red hair that fell past her shoulders with long parted bangs framing the either side of her fair-skinned face and one between her eyes. She also wore a hat with pipe-like stripes and bandaged sides which kept her bangs in place, while the rest of her hair was pushed back behind her ears to trail down her back. "You think so Himiko. To me, that brat will always be the same weak girl that was born from that weak woman." The girl's brown eyes narrowed slightly, and a sinister smile then played on the girl's lips. "Maybe I should go and pay her a visit?"

"You will do no such thing," another girl's voice spoke out. Tayuya's gaze turned to her right, to the girl with onyx hair who was standing next to Himiko. "You heard father's orders, we are to watch and observe only. And I will not have disobey them."

Tayuya gave the black haired girl, Sarada, a menacing glare. "What the fuck did you say bitch?" she spoke with venom. For whatever reason, the bespectacled girl always got on the red head's nerves, even when she was born. "Just because you're daddy's little princess, doesn't mean you can boss me around. I'll fucking kill you if you do."

Sarada used her middle finger to push her glasses up before she turned her own set of onyx coloured eyes on her older sister. "You can try. I don't mind getting rid of you. It's one less hassle to deal with in the future."

"You bitch..." Tayuya growled.

"That's enough the both of you," a male's voice spoke out. Both girl's turned their gazes to one of their brothers at the end. He was tall and muscular, even under the cloak, and had spiky orange hair. His calm red-orange eyes looked at his sister's irritated ones. "Killing each other won't get you anywhere."

"You might as well give up Jūgo," another male's voice called out to the boy named Jūgo. He had straight white hair with a light blue tint, almond shape purple eyes and sharp pointed teeth. "You know what those two are like. Once they start, they never stop."

"Shut your mouth Suigetsu!" Tayuya shouted. "Unless you want you want to be next?"

"Okay, Okay. Sorry, sorry," the boy known as Suigetsu said in a deadpan voice. That only irritated the red head even more. Ignoring his sister's glare, the white haired demon looked to toward the last member of their group, who had been quiet for some time. "Are you alright Konan? You're awful quiet."

Konan, as the woman was called, was relatively tall and had short, straight blue hair with amber eyes and lavender eye shadow and a labret piercing. There was also a large light blue paper flower in her hair, and all the siblings knew that she has always had it in her hair when she was little. "I'm fine," she spoke with a stoic expression. "I'm just thinking. Pay me no mind."

Tayuya let out a loud sigh. "Fuck. Now I've lost interest," she said, and then turned on her heel. "I'm bored, so I'm going home." And with that she walked away, and after taking a few steps she vanished into thin air.

"For once I actually agree with her," Suigetsu chipped in and too began to walk away. Then, following their example, the next person to leave was Himiko and was then followed by Jūgo, leaving only Sarada and Konan on the rooftop.

Sarada began to walk away, but when she realized that her sister wasn't moving she turned around. "Are you coming Konan-onēsan?"

"I'll be there in a moment. Go on ahead Sarada," was the reply she got. Sarada just narrowed her eyes slightly but thought best to not question her. Apart from herself, Konan was the smartest and oldest one of the family and she really respected her. So, turning on her heel she left just like everyone else, and vanished into thin air.

Now that she was left alone, it was suddenly quiet. But she didn't mind it. Her amber eyes continued to look toward the direction that the pink haired girl had gone. Her eyes suddenly became gentle and a small smile grew on the woman's face. _You've grown up so much, Sakura-chan..._

 _"Konan-Onēchan!"_

Konan smiled even more, at a fond memory of a certain little pink haired girl calling out to her and reaching out to the blue haired woman with her little hands. And with that fond memory, Konan then turned and left, heading back to the demon realm.

* * *

 **And there we have it. Now we have more new characters in the story and there will be a few more in the future. Anyway I hope you liked it. Please leave a review as it will help me greatly and constructive criticism is very much appreciated.**

 **Hope you enjoy your day. Till next time.**


	11. A Misunderstanding Between Friends

**Hey guys and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. I just want to say thank you to Guest (whoever you are) for giving a nice review and I'm glad to have a fan like you.**

 **Thank you again and on with the story. Apologises in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and my poor writing.**

 **I don't own Naruto, just the plot and any OCs that I use**

* * *

A few days had past since the fight between Sakura and the pink skinned demon, and everything since then had gone back to normal. Or for the raven haired girl, what used to be normal. She knew now that her life would never be the same again after witnessing first hand what was going on behind her everyday life. But if she was completely honest with herself, she wouldn't change it for anything else. Because thanks to those events, she was able to make a new friend who now was important to her.

Sitting at her desk in classroom 2-B, Hinata's gaze turned from her homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi, who was giving out the morning announcements, and, sneaking a peak behind her, she saw the pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura listening intently to Kakashi-sensei's words. After she and Sakura ad become friends, the pinkette had started to take more interest in class. She was also interacting more with the girl's and the more times that she did, the more the girl's came to her.

The ravenette was happy that Sakura was getting along with the other girls. She really was. But... for some reason the girl felt uncomfortable. She didn't know why, but every time she saw the pink haired girl smile at the other girls or even when one of the girl's would touch her in a friendly way, a knot would form in her stomach and her chest would tighten. And that feeling, when she saw the younger girl with the other girls, kept going on for the past few days and Hinata could only think up with one thing that would cause it.

Jealousy. She was becoming jealous. Why? She didn't know. She had no reason to be jealous. This was what Hinata wanted anyway. _So why do I feel this way?_

As if she knew that Hinata was watching, Sakura turned her gaze from her teacher, to the ravenette. When both their gazes met, the one-eyed girl gave Hinata a small gentle smile. Hinata immediately felt herself blush, a crimson hue staining her cheeks, and she quickly averted her gaze and faced the front. Her heart had started to beat twice as fast and that too has been happening since the day after the fight.

"Alright everyone," the white haired man spoke, bringing Hinata's thoughts to a halt and decided to concentrate on what her homeroom teacher was saying. "As you all should know, your exams before summer vacation, will be next week for three days. So today will your last normal day of lessons." The class then began to groan from those words. Even Hinata had to suppress a groan herself. While she didn't hate the exams, she didn't particularly like them either. But she still studied enough to get above average grades.

"Now, now everyone, I haven't finished yet," Kakashi continued, his eye closing in a smile, like whatever he was going to say next would lift their spirits. "After the three day exams are finished, we'll be holding a summer festival on that Sunday. So after the exams have finished, we'll begin the preparations for it." Thanks to that, the doomed faces of his students quickly turned into excitement. And with that, he told every to study hard and left the podium, ending homeroom. But before he left through the door, he stopped and turned back to his class.

"One more thing before I go," the man continued. "Your teacher for your first period is absent, so you'll be doing self-study for your next lesson. And during that time, Hyūga-san," he called out to the raven haired girl.

"Yes Sensei," Hinata replied standing up.

"Your subject before lunch is P.E isn't it?" he asked her, the girl replying with a "Yes." Kakashi gave a nod. "Then, during your study period, will you take Haruno-san to the nurses office so she can get her measurements done? That way we can get her a uniform for P.E done during the summer break."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei," Hinata said.

The white haired man gave a nod and with a "I'm counting on you," finally left the classroom with the sound of the bell following after. When it did, everyone began to talk to one another and as the girl's were in conversation, Hinata stood up from her seat and turned to go toward Sakura's.

"Sakura-chan," the raven haired girl called out. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," the younger girl replied, standing up.

Then the pair both began to make their way toward the door but Hinata stopped near her best friend's, Tenten, desk first. "Do you want to come with us, Tenten?" she asked her friend.

The brunette looked up and was about to answer her childhood friend, but when she saw the pink haired girl standing next to the ravenette, her mood suddenly became sour. "Sorry, but I can't," she said in response. "I'm studying."

"That's interesting," Sakura was the one to speak. "I didn't know that you could study without books."

What the pinkette said was true. Looking at the girl's desk, Hinata and Sakura saw that there was absolutely no books on the brunette's table. Having been caught like that, Tenten's face began to grow red from embarrassment and face planted her desk. Hinata let out a nervous laugh at the sight. Despite having it been a few days, Tenten still didn't get along with the pink haired girl and Hinata didn't know why that was?

Leaving Tenten to her 'studying', the two girl's left the classroom and went straight to the nurses office which was on the first floor at the end of the hallway. When they got to the front of the door, just as Hinata was about to knock, the door itself suddenly flew open and someone came out from within it. It was a woman with fair skin and a slender build. She had long black untamed hair that reached her upper back and red eyes, with an additional ring in them. Her red lipstick made her lips luck shiny and her purple eye shadow made her look even more mature for her age.

Finally her outfit consisted of a blue jacket, a white button down shirt and a tight blue skirt with black tights. And to finish off she had a white lab coated that went up to her lower legs.

"K-Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata cried out in surprise.

"Oh, Hyūga-san!" she, too, said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Taking a moment to compose herself, Hinata told the older woman the reason what brought them. "This is Haruno Sakura who recently transferred here," she said, gesturing to the girl next to her. Sakura bowed her head in greeting. "We came here to get her measurements checked for her PE uniform."

"Ah, that's right!" the black haired woman said, having remembered. But then she gave an apologetic look the the girls. "I'm sorry, but I've got some errands to run."

"I-I see," the ravenete said. Maybe they could do another time then. In which case, she'd have to tell Kakashi-sensei about it.

"But," Kurenai continued. "Why don't you take her measurements in my stead, Hyūga-san?"

"Eh?!"Hinata couldn't help but be surprised by the suggestion. But before she could say anything, the red-eyed nurse took a step forward and waved.

"Well I need to go now," said the black haired nurse, patting Hinata's shoulder in the process. "I'm counting on you."

With those parting words, the older woman left the two girls. The ravenette could only watch as her Kurenai disappeared around the corner, and when she was completely gone, Hinata let out a sigh. The sound of a door opening reached the girl's ears and she turned around to see Sakura opening the door to the nurse's office.

"Are you coming, Hinata?" she asked before walking in to the room.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" the ravenette cried out before she, herself, followed after her friend.

Inside the room was your typical standard nurse's office. The entire room, save for the floor, was coloured white, and posters of the human anatomy where displayed on the walls. Beds, which students, who were sick or if they were extremely tired, could rest, occupied most of the room, with curtains to give the individual some sort of privacy. The nurse's desk, with shelves of medicine next to it, was on the opposite side of the room.

"Right then," Hinata said to herself. "Where's that measuring tape?"

The ravenette made her to the desk and with an apology, she began to rummage through it. As she did, Sakura looked around the white bland room, and wondered what she should do. She decided to call out to the older girl in front of her. "Hinata."

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" the girl answered her back still turned as she continued to search for what she was looking for.

What should I do?"

"Ah, I'm sorry," apologised Hinata. She had been so engrossed at finding the tape that she almost forgot. She turned to look at the pinkette behind her. "Could you wait a little longer? I know that the tape is in here somewhere."

Sakura just gave out a nod and with that, Hinata turned back around and continued her search. While she carried on, for just a moment, she thought that she could hear the sound of clothes rustling but chose to ignore it and thought nothing about it. Finally, after searching for a few more minutes, the white eyed girl found the item that she had been looking for and with it in hand, she turned back to Sakura.

"Okay, I've got the tape," she declared. "Let's get..."

But the girl's words failed near the end as her gaze saw the sight that was before her. Standing there, Sakura was wearing nothing but her underwear and she was folding her uniform neatly on one of the beds. Seeing her in that state, Hinata couldn't help but look at the pink haired girl's white beautiful skin that was now exposed. Without the clothing, Hinata realised that the girl's body was toned with barely any fat on her, which would make any girl going on a diet jealous.

She then suddenly blushed a bright red, as she realised that she was now looking at the girl from head to toe. She knew now wasn't the time for such things, even if she was beautiful, and was able to find her voice. "S-S-Sakura-chan!"

With the last of her clothing on the bed, Sakura's one emerald eye turned to meet Hinata's white ones. "What's wrong Hinata?" she asked, confusion clear in her voice.

" W-why did you take off your clothes?" she asked.

"Because they'd get in the way wouldn't they?" was the answer Hinata was given. "You wouldn't be able to get an accurate result with them on would you?"

And with that, Hinata went silent. Sakura's logic was sound. Her uniform would get in the way and she would be able to get accurate results in this way. The ravenette took a glance at Sakura. She started to blush profusely and her heart was beating a mile a minute at the mere thought of touching the pinkette directly.

"Hinata?" Sakura's voice called out, bringing the raven haired girl back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"I-'Im fine," cursing herself for stuttering. "Then... shall we start?"

Hinata started to make her way towards the younger girl. As she got closer and closer, her heart would pound harder and harder so much that it she could literally hear each beat in her ears. When she finally stood in front of her, Hinata's gaze turned the part that she would be measuring first: her chest. Clearing the lump that was in her throat, the white eyed girl slowly began to wrap the tape around Sakura's body. But not long after that the tape touched the pinkette's bear skin, a moan suddenly escaped past her lips.

"Sakura-chan!"Hinata cried, removing the tape from the younger girl's body and looking up.

"S-sorry," Sakura apologised. "I wasn't expecting the tape to be so cold."

Finding out the reason, Hinata put a hand to her chest, trying to calm her heart which almost had a heart attack, and let out a sigh. "I'm going to put it back around you again, okay?" she told her.

With a nod, the ravenette started again, and this time, Sakura was more prepared, as nothing happened, and she successfully wrapped it completely around. Hinata could feel the pinkette's breasts on the back of her fingers and her face had gotten even more red than before. "Soft..." she murmured.

"What?" asked Sakura, cocking an eyebrow.

"N-nothing, never mind!"

After she got the chest measurement, and had written it down somewhere, Hinata then moved onto the waist area and managed to get that measurement without much trouble. When it came to doing the hip measurement, the ravenette had to clear the lump that had formed in her throat again. _Come on Hinata, you can do this_ she spoke in her thoughts, trying calm herself. The raven haired girl knelt down on one knee and wrapped the tape around the final place for measurement.

However this time, it didn't go so well. As soon as the tape touched Sakura, she had let out another gasp and this time she took a step back. Since the pinkette took off her uniform, she had also taken off her footwear also. So when she took the step back, she slipped and began to fall backwards and since Hinata still had the tape, which was still around Sakura, in her hands, she started to fall forwards, all of it happening in an instant.

Time froze for Hinata after that. The raven haired girl had fallen on top of the pink haired girl, and she realized that she that her hands were on either side of Sakura's head and her legs were straddling the younger girl's hips. If anyone saw them now it would look like that Hinata was pinning down the pink haired girl. Meanwhile Sakura was just lying there, both their gazes locked on to one another, never averting. Hinata's heart started to pound once more at their close proximity and she didn't know what to do.

No. That was a lie. She did know what she needed to do, and that was to apologise and get off of the pinkette. But she couldn't. The medical eye patch that had been on the girl's face had fallen off, and now she was looking into both her emerald and demonic pools at once, and she couldn't look away.

"Hinata..." Sakura said in a whisper.

"Sakura-ch-"

Just as Hinata was about to finish saying Sakura's name, the door to the nurses office flew open.

* * *

Walking along the empty corridor of the school during her self-study period, Hiramatsu Tenten let out a sigh.

After Hinata and Haruno left the classroom, the brunette thought that she'd study, hoping that it would distract her. And it was working for a while. But something was nagging in the back of her head. Once a few minutes had past, the nagging feeling was still there and she decided to stop her studying.

She decided that maybe a walk would clear her head up and that was now where she was. So far, the walk wasn't helping her. The nagging feeling was still there, but at that point she probably knew what was going on. It was the fact that her childhood friend was alone with Haruno Sakura. She didn't know when it happened, but the two of them had suddenly gotten closer to one another, and the ravenette had been spending less time with Tenten.

The twin bunned girl let out another sigh, but then stopped moving. For some reason, she found herself on the first floor of the school. And not just that, she was near the nurse's office. The place where Hinata and the Haruno girl were supposed to be. _Why'd I come here?_ she wondered. She then shook her head. She didn't want to see the two them together at the moment and decided to turn around and walk away.

But the sound of someone falling, followed with a short scream, stopped Tenten in her tracks. She recognised that scream anywhere. _Hinata!_ the brunette cried in her thoughts and worried. Did Haruno attack her? Thinking the worst she ran toward the nurse's office, gripped the door and slid it open. What she saw next was something she never would have thought of seeing, her eyes going wide.

She saw both Hinata and Haruno on the floor, with her childhood friend on top of the pink haired girl. The brunette's hand on the door went limp, and the two girl's turned their gazes toward her. "Tenten!" Hinata called out to her friend in panic, quickly getting herself off of the pinkette and said girl getting up off the floor, her left eye closed. "It isn't what it looks like!" she tried to explain, but at that point, Tenten had stopped listening.

The image of Hinata on top of Haruno was burned into the brunette's mind. Her worst nightmare was coming true. Hinata was slowly starting to forget about her and that thought hurt her more than anything. The twin bunned girl lowered her head, her bangs shadowing her face and her hand slowly started to turn into a white knuckle fist.

"I've had enough," Tenten whispered, anger slowly starting to boil inside her. It was a feeling that she never felt to this extent before.

"Tenten..." Hinata said with worry in her voice.

But Tenten didn't hear her. Instead she raised her head, and glared daggers at the one person that caused all of this: Haruno Sakura.

"Haruno Sakura," she called out to the pink haired girl, and with that she pointed at her with her finger and then declared with a loud voice, "I challenge you!"

* * *

 **And there you have it. Thank you very much for reading. Please leave a review and any constructive criticism would be very appreciated.**

 **Thanks again and see ya next chapter!**


	12. Give Her Back! The Naginata Duel

**Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. I want to thank Guest (whoever you are god damnit) about giving me pointers about my writing.**

 **Like I've said in other chapters, I apologise in advance for grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. I've still got a long way to go before I can come closer to other people on this site. Anyway on with the story.  
**

 **I don't own Naruto, just the plot and my OCs.**

* * *

"Haruno Sakura. I challenge you!"

Hinata couldn't believe the words that were coming from her best friends mouth. But the ravenette knew that Tenten was serious by the way she was glaring at Sakura with her eyes. This was the first time in a long time she had ever seen the brunette this angry before. The last was when the raven haired girl was in middle school, a co-ed one, and the boys back then made fun of her because of her white eyes and because she was shy and timid girl back then, she didn't stand up for herself.

When Tenten came to the scene back then and saw what was happening to her, she lost it and flipped out. She ended up beating the crap out of the boys and would have been expelled for nearly sending them to the hospital. But thanks to Hinata's intervention, the twin bunned girl only got a suspension.

"What are you saying Tenten?!" Hinata asked her, she didn't know what caused her to be this way, but she knew that if the brunette didn't calm down, something bad might happen.

"It's exactly like I said," Tenten said, her eyes never leaving Sakura's emerald one. "Ever since she gave out her apology to us, she suddenly became Miss Popular with everyone." Her eyes for the moment looked down toward the ground. "Even you're starting to drift away from me."

"Tenten..." Hinata's heart was breaking from seeing her friend like this. Her instincts were telling her to rush up to her friend and envelop her in a hug. But she didn't. The ravenette knew that Tenten was very prideful and hugging would show that she was weak. But Hinata knew that she had to do something. "But-"

"Fine," Sakura spoke up, causing both girl's to look at her. "I'll accept your challenge."

"Sakura-chan!" the ravenette called out, staring at the half naked girl in disbelief. She was really going to go through with this?!

Tenten looked back up and into the pinkette's eyes and smiled. "I'm glad," she said. "Today, after school, come to the naginata club in the gymnasium. We'll settle it in duel, and the loser has to do whatever the winner asks. You fine with that?"

The younger girl closed her emerald coloured eye and smiled a confident smile. "That's fine with me."

Tenten narrowed her eyes, slightly irritated by the pinkette's confidence. Tenten looked like she wanted to say something more but she bit it back. And with a "Hmph," the brunette turned her back on both of the girls and was about to walk away, but not before Tenten turned her head back, to look at Sakura. "Look forward to it." With those parting words, she left. Hinata could have sworn just before she left that the twin bunned girl stole a glance her way but there was no way to tell.

When her best friend was gone from sight, Hinata turned around to face the pinkette, who was in the middle of putting her uniform back on. "Sakura-chan," she called out to her. "Is there no way you'll reconsider? Another way of settling this?"

Sakura's fingers stopped for a moment and turned her gaze to Hinata's white pools. "Sorry, Hinata," the pinkette said with an apologetic smile.

"I... see..." she replied, crestfallen, turning her gaze the floor. She couldn't believe that she let this happen. Her two friends were going to have a fight with one another and there was nothing she could do about it. _No_ _that's wrong_ she thought. _I could have stopped it._ Had she only stepped into the conversation, she might have been able to do something. Why now, of all times, did she feel powerless?

Before Hinata could sink further into depressing thoughts, she suddenly felt a warm weight on her head. Looking up, it turned out to be Sakura's hand and the pinkette was now fully dressed. "Don't worry Hinata," Sakura reassured her with a smile. "I'm taking on this challenge to help your friend out. She's got a lot on her mind and if doing this will help her, and you, then I'll do it." Sakura's emerald and demonic orbs gazed gently into Hinata's white ones. "Believe in me."

The gentle look took Hinata by surprise and made her heart skip a beat. But she soon found herself smiling and nodding to the younger girl. Whatever Sakura had planned, Hinata knew from the bottom of her heart that everything would go well.

Nodding also, Sakura reached down to the floor and grabbed her eye patch that had fallen off, replaced it upon her eye and both girl's then left the nurse's office, heading back to their classes and waiting for the approaching time.

* * *

Unfortunately for Hinata, that approaching time came all too quickly, and now she and Sakura were making their way to the gymnasium. Even though she wasn't the one fighting, Hinata couldn't help herself but be nervous. Her hands began to fidget. What if they both ended up hurt? She knew that would never happen but the thought was still there.

"Huh?" the ravenette made a sound as she felt something warm wrap around her hand. Looking down, she saw that Sakura's fingers were covering her hand and when she looked up, the pinkette was still looking straight ahead of her. Did she notice that Hinata was nervous? But just from that action alone, the girl's nervousness suddenly disappeared and was replaced with butterflies in her stomach. A red hue appeared on her cheeks but she smiled regardless and enjoyed the feeling of Sakura's hand in her own.

They walked hand in hand to the gymnasium and when they were in front of the doors, Sakura removed her hand from Hinata's, which made the ravenette's hand feel cold. She pushed back the feeling of loneliness and watched as Sakura placed her hands on the double doors. "You ready Hinata?" Sakura asked. Hinata didn't know why she needed to be ready but she gave the girl a nod anyway and with that, the pinkette opened the doors.

The sight before them was very familiar to Hinata. The gym was full of girls who were either doing their club activities or spectating, and the gym was divided into two. One half of the gym were doing kendo, the girls there were practising their sword swings and other movements. The other half was for the girls in the naginata club. They hadn't started anything yet and Hinata probably knew the reason why.

Standing there, getting her gear on for the naginata match, was Tenten. The other club members were helping the brunette set up and when Hinata and Sakura got closer, Tenten finally noticed them. Her face lit up when she saw Hinata, but as soon as she saw the younger girl next to her, it vanished almost instantly. "And here I thought that you wouldn't show up," she commented.

"What? You were going to miss me?" Sakura asked, cocking her brow.

"Of course," Tenten said. Hearing those words, hope slowly to started to rise from Hinata. "I wouldn't have been able to kick your ass if you didn't show up." And the hope she had been building up had immediately been shattered.

"That's your gear over there," Tenten said, gesturing to one of the first year girl's holding a uniform in her arms and the girl next to her holding a naginata made of bamboo and a mask. Sakura made her way toward the two girl's and looked at the items that were presented to her.

The first year on her left held a hakama similar to the one that Sakura would wear when she went out to kill demons, except in a different colour. On top of the clothing were mitten-like gloves called kote, a curved stomach and chest protector called a dō. A tare, which was a thick cloth belt with covered flaps hanging from the belt to protect the upper legs and groin. And the final items were shin guards. Looking at each item carefully, Sakura knew that these were just going to get in the way of her fighting.

Her emerald gaze then turned to the other girl carrying the bamboo naginata. She also held the a helmet, the men, which covered the face, neck and shoulders, in her other hand, but just by looking at the thing, the pinkette defiantly knew that would just slow her down also. Instead she took the wooden weapon from the girl's hand and swung it down once with one hand. Sakura then smiled, and then turned to look at Tenten who just frowned, probably wondering what she was doing.

"I won't need the gear," she declared simply. Everyone gasped and their eyes widened. Tenten however, glared at her. "I'll just fight you as I am."

"Are you making fun of me?" she said in a annoyed tone. "You really think you're all that don't you?"

"Not really," the pinkette replied. Sakura then met Tenten's glaring eyes with her serious one. "You're not going to hold back when fighting me without gear are you? Because if you do, then I'll leave."

Tenten's glare became even more deadly, and for a minute, Hinata was worried that she would launch herself on Sakura. But when she looked toward the pinkette, she saw that the younger girl was totally calm. Like she knew what the brunette would do.

"Fine..." Tenten was the one who broke the silence between them. And then grasped her kote gloves and took them off. Everyone again looked on wide eyed, except for Sakura who looked like she had anticipated this action, as the brunette took off the remainder of her protective gear and put them on the floor, now standing there with only the hakama kimono on her body. "I'll also fight like this. You're not going to hold back fighting me like this are you?" she asked with furrowed brows and a smile.

Sakura just smiled even more and didn't say anything else. And with that, both girl's made there way to the mats that were laid out as for their stage. From that point onward, Hinata couldn't do anything more, and could only watch to see the outcome of the match.

 _Tenten, Sakura-chan_ Hinata called to her friends in her thoughts, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. There was no way she could cheer on one person so she decided to cheer on both instead. _Good luck and please be safe..._

* * *

Once both girls were on the mats, they just stood there staring each other down. Grey and emerald orbs clashing. The entire gymnasium was silent, not a single sound could be heard through the tense atmosphere. Hinata found it strange that would be quiet like that and was surprised to see that all the girls, even the ones from kendo, were all looking in the same direction of the two girls.

One of the first year girls, who was to be acting referee of this match, raised her hand toward the air and spoke out in a clear voice, "We'll now begin this sparring match between Hiramatsu Tenten, and Haruno Sakura! The first person to get a point wins the match!" The girl first turned her gaze toward the brunette. "Hiramatsu-senpai, are you ready?"

Hearing the girl's words, Tenten took her fighting stance. Both her hands on the bamboo weapon, the tip pointing towards her opponent and she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. Slowly exhaling it, the brunette's eyes shot open, and with a determined look, she replied back with a "I'm ready!"

Nodding her head, the girl then turned her gaze to her other upperclassman. "Haruno-senpai, are you ready?"

"I'm ready," Sakura replied with, but unlike Tenten, she didn't take a stance. She chose to just stand and wait, the bamboo naginata in her left hand. The first year girl waited for a moment to see of she would take any sort of stance. But when she was unmoving she decided to just carry on.

"Then, with both parties ready, let the battle begin!" the first year shouted, swinging her arm down which signalled the match to start. And soon as that happened Tenten made the first move.

The brunette ran forward, the naginata next to hip, at the pink haired girl who continued to stay on one spot, the bamboo weapon she held was limp in her hand. Sakura left a huge opening for her and Tenten wasn't going to let it go to waste. When she was close enough, the brunette swung her bamboo naginata at the pinkette's open right side. Sakura moved her naginata to defend that side of herself that was open and Tenten smiled.

It was a feint.

Just as Tenten's wooden weapon was going to connect with Sakura's, the brunette twisted her body and her weapon was now aiming for the left side of the younger girl's body. _I got you!_ Tenten cried in her thoughts, celebrating her early victory. Her naginata was coming in too fast and Tenten knew that there was no way that the pinkette could block the incoming attack.

When the sound of bamboo hitting each other past through Tenten's ear however, her eyes went wide. The younger girl had managed to block Tenten's feint attack, her arm, with the naginata, arcing over her head. The brunette then jumped back, away from the pinkette, and narrowed her eyes. _How?_ she thought. Tenten had it all calculated in her head. She's being using the nagainata since she was in middle school and thanks to a few years of experience, she has been able to become faster than anyone in the clubs she's been into.

Thus, she able pull off moves, like her feint attack, with ease and win a fight. So why was the girl in front of her able to block it with ease. Was it a fluke? She thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that it had to be.

Coming with that decision, Tenten pressed forward. She ran toward the younger girl once more and swung her bamboo weapon in a vertical arc. This time, Sakura didn't make an attempt to block this time and when the wooden blade nearly hit the girl's head, it stopped. Instantly, like she did last time, she twisted her body, and went from a vertical slash into a horizontal one, aiming for the girl's left side. _Got you this time!_

She felt her naginata hit something solid, and again her eyes widened. Again, the pinkette had defended herself against the brunette's feint attack and just like that time, she jumped back.

The brunette narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, her frustration building up. The girl has blocked two of her attacks so far, and Sakura has barely moved a muscle. Her emerald coloured eye was staring into Tenten's grey ones and it was starting to annoy her. The pink haired girl suddenly smiled a cocky grin and Tenten snapped at that.

"You bitch!" she roared, charging at the pinkette and launched a flurry of attacks. She started with another vertical slash, following it up with a horizontal one. Sakura easily side-stepped the first strike and parried the horizontal slash. When that didn't work, which angered her some more, Tenten began to thrust her naginata at Sakura once, twice and then three times. The pinkette dodge the first two thrusts and on the third she side-stepped and went around the grey eyed girl.

Turning her head to look behind her, Tenten twisted her body and with a war cry she began another assault of attacks. With each slash, thrust or any other combination of moves, the pink haired girl would either parry, block or dodge like it was nothing. After all those, exhaustion had started to hit Tenten's body and she soon stopped moving. She let out heavy breaths, as she tried to get the oxygen back into her lungs.

While she took deep breaths, her eyes looked at the younger girl in front of her. Sakura was still standing there, still as a statue. Her gaze never leaving the brunette's and from the looks of her, she looked fine. She wasn't breathing heavily like Tenten was, she wasn't sweating either. Why? What made her so special? Why was Hinata so interested in her!?

 _Hinata..._

Thoughts and memories of her childhood friend flashed through the brunette's mind. The smile the ravenette had when she was in elementary school, middle school and at the begin of high school were bright in her mind. But when she compared them to when she was hanging out with Sakura, after they had become friends, her heart slowly started to ache. Her smile now seemed to shine much brighter than it did when Hinata hung out with the brunette.

Tenten could feel water starting to gather up in her eyes, and she tried her best to hold them back. _Why?_ she asked herself again. _Why is Hinata interested in someone like you? Why are you taking her away from me? Give her back. Give Hinata back. Give her back to me!_

"Give her back..." Tenten spoke in a whisper.

For once in their entire sparring match, Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly. She could see that tears had begun to roll down the brunette's cheeks and dripping down on to the mat. With a quick glance toward the ravenette, Sakura could tell that she was worried for her friend. She just hoped that Hinata wouldn't jump in the fight. Tenten's voice then brought her attention back.

"Give her back... Give her back..." the brunette kept repeating those words like a mantra. Until finally, she looked up, her gaze fierce. "Give Hinata back to me!"

Shouting that, the brunette recklessly charged at the pinkette and again threw another set of flurry attacks at her, but this time more wildly. The tears that were rolling down her cheek were getting flicked away on to the mat from each swing and as she did, her true feelings began to come forth, no longer hiding whatever it was in her heart.

"Before you came along, I was enjoying my life!" she cried, slashing at Sakura twice and then a thrust. "I was happy when it was just me and Hinata!" The pinkette dodged another thrust and parried a diagonal strike. "Everything was going you showed up!" Tenten then swung in a vertical arc and Sakura blocked it, the two now in a deadlock. "Once you shown up, she started to drift away from me!"

Both them couldn't see as they fought, but the ravenette was able to hear the whole thing so far. And as she listened, both of her hands went up to cover her mouth, tears beginning to gather up in her eyes. Where these her true feelings? _Tenten..._ she called in her thoughts. How could she do that to her best friend. The one person who has been with since she started elementary school and until now. The person who has heard her problems and not once complained.

Hinata was brought back to the match as Sakura pushed the brunette away and said girl jumped back. As soon as she did, she immediately went back in again, not giving up. "Give her back!" she cried, attacking this way and that. "Give Hinata back!" she repeated as more tears began to shed. "Without her, I'm useless!" She swung. "Without her, my life has no meaning!" She swung. "Give her back!" And again. "Giver her back!" And again. "Give the most important person in my life back!" And again.

After the last attack, the pinkette side-stepped, and like before she got behind the brunette, who at this point was now breathing heavily. She was completely exhausted. The adrenaline rush she was having was slowly leaving her system. But she gritted her teeth. She wasn't finished yet. "Give her..." she began. Then, she turned her body around, and swung a heavy horizontal slash, screaming, "BACK!"

Just as the wooden tip touched Sakura, the pinkette quickly ducked underneath it. The weapon made of bamboo was an inch above her head and thanks to the swing, Tenten's center of gravity was thrown off. And she could only watch as Sakura looked up at her and gave her weapon a thrust. The tip of the younger girl's weapon hit the brunette's stomach hard, causing her eyes to go wide. She then flew back and hit the mat, her weapon going in the other direction.

Everyone just stood there and watched. Silence filling the entire gymnasium. Then, the first year referee, blinked a few times and shook her head. "The winner is," she announced loudly, raising her hand, "Haruno Sakura!"

But there was no clapping, no cheering. They all just watched as the girl that just got beaten slowly sit up, her eyes shadowed from her bangs. Hinata, worried for her childhood friend, was about to go over to her, but as she took a step forward, the brunette suddenly stood up. And then with tears still streaming down her face, and without a word, she ran past the pinkette and out the door.

"TENTEN!" Hinata cried out her friend's name, but it was too late. She was already gone.

* * *

 **And there you have it. Thanks for reading and please leave a review, telling me whether you liked it and any improvements I can do to make it better. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	13. Regret, Tenten's Thoughts and Feelings

**Hey guys and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love. First off, the reviews.**

 **I want to say thanks again to Guest (Who's name I shall never know) about the advise you gave me. Hopefully made it easier to read with the speech. I've also done some senses but not much. It's only because I've never done that much of it before so I hope you bare with me. Like it says in my profile, I never intended to post any of my stories up, so it was all for me to read. But now that I have people who read this now, I've got to try harder. So I just ask for patience.**

 **.S - Sorry to make you feel bad but that was the reaction I was hoping for. As for them becoming friends. You'll have to wait and see.**

 **Celestialfae - You'll find out soon enough.**

 **Anyway, like always, I apologise in advance for grammar mistakes,** **repetitiveness and poor writing. And I hope you enjoy.**

 **I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs are mine.**

* * *

Hiramatsu Tenten was sitting on a park bench, her legs tucked up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them and was still wearing her hakama kimono. The pleasent summer breeze made her her bangs sway, and it felt nice on her skin. But even the wind of summer couldn't lift the brunette's spirits. Her thoughts would bring her back to the sparring match back at school and just from that, her eyes would begin to sting.

 _I'm pathetic_ the brunette thought to herself.

She couldn't believe that she had lost control of herself and let her emotions get the better of her. She even spoke out her true feelings which she had locked away. But she couldn't have helped it. Seeing Haruno Sakura smiling at her with that cocky grin of her's, just made Tenten's blood boil and she only saw red. She could remember that she only swung in rage and most of the fight was slightly fuzzy in her head, but the by the time it had finally become clear, she was on the floor and she knew instantly that she had lost the match.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but when she looked up, the sky was a deep orange. Club activities, as well as school, would probably be over by now and Tenten let out a sigh. In her haste of getting out of school, she had left her schoolbag and her uniform, back at the gymnasium. It was embarrassing, but she would just have to walk home wearing her hakama kimono.

"Are you okay miss?" a voice spoke to her.

Tenten looked to her left and standing there was a young man, maybe in his late twenties if she had to guess, in a police uniform. Thanks to the sunset, the normal blue uniform that he was wearing had turned into dark purple. The police officer looked at the brunette with an worried expression. He must of saw Tenten's red puffy eyes and tear stained face and came over to see what was up. She smiled at the man. Deep down, the girl wanted to cry some more but she could do that in her house. That way she won't have to be even more embarrassed than she was now.

"I'm fine," she replied. "Thanks for asking."

"It's no problem," the man said with a smile. "It's my job after all." He then looked at the orange sky above. It's hue started to get darker, as night slowly started to take over the sky.

"It looks like it will get dark soon," the officer continued. Then he turned his gaze back to Tenten. "Why don't I escort you back home? I don't want a girl going home alone at this time at night by themselves."

Saying that, the officer extended his hand out to Tenten, and she looked from his caring smile to the outstretched hand that was being offered to her. The brunette thought for a moment, wondering if she should just walk home by herself. She can easily take care of herself if someone were to assault her. But she knew that the state that she was in now, she couldn't be bothered dealing with that, in this moment of time.

Coming to that conclusion, she gave the officer a nod and then reached her own hand out. But, as the tips of her fingers touched the man's hand, she instantly stopped, a chill crawling down her spine. Her blood suddenly went cold, like she had been pushed into a freezer. What was this sudden feeling that just came over her? For some reason, her instincts were telling her to run as far away as possible.

When she looked up, gazing back into the man's face, her heart had started to pound, hard. The smile on the man's face, as he waited for Tenten to grasp his hand, looked like any kind smile. But for the brunette, that smile held something more. She didn't know what it was, but it caused her to have a cold sweat. Quickly she retracted his hand, and then stood up.

"I'm alright actually," she said, a forced smile on her face. She needed to get away from the man in front of her. Now. "I can take of myself on the way. Thank you very much for the offer, but I must be going." She gave the man a bow and turned on her heel and started to make her home.

 _GRAB!_

But she was only able to take a step, before a hand had grasped her upper arm. Her heart pounded much harder from the contact, her pupils growing smaller. Clearing the lump that had formed in her throat, Tenten slowly turned her head around, another forced smile on her face. But when she faced the man, her eyes widened in fear, whatever she was going to say was caught in her throat. The kind eyes and smile that the police officer had only moments ago, had completely vanished. Instead, it was a sharp gaze and a crooked, wicked smile that was presented to her now.

The police officer let a tired sigh. "What a troublesome girl you are," he said. "You should have just came with me, like a good little girl."

The man then tighten his grip like a vice and the brunette winced from the sudden pain. It felt like the bones in her arm were going to break. His strength felt inhuman and she knew then that she seriously had to get away from this person. With that action in mind, Tenten gathered whatever courage she had, ignoring the fear that was within her, cocked her free arm back and then punched the man in the face. Again, she winced, and brought her hand back. It felt like she just punched a wall made of concrete

A low menacing chuckle, made Tenten's gaze turn back to the officer. His face was turned to the side thanks to the brunette's punch, and when he turned his face back, his sharp gaze bore threw Tenten's grey eyes, making the girl cower in fear. With his wicked grin planted on his face, he also raised his free hand and swung it upon Tenten, backhanding her, and the girl hit the ground like a ton of bricks.

"That was a big mistake bitch," said the man, as Tenten slowly raised herself until she was sitting on the floor.

Her cheek was aching, and she could feel the taste of iron in her mouth. When she felt something dribbling, from her mouth to her chin, she wiped it with the back of her hand and she went wide eyed. Blood. Her blood. That was what she could feel inside her mouth. I huge chill went down the girl's spine, shock and fear starting to make Tenten's body shake uncontrollably.

"Now that it has come to this," the man spoke up. Fearfully, the brunette turned her grey pools toward the man's gaze. Her fear intensified as she gazed into the those deadly sharp eyes. "I have no choice but to do this here." The corrupt officer began to chuckle once more. "Watch carefully now, because this is the last thing you'll ever see."

After those words, the man began to growl. As he did, his skin colour suddenly turn into a bright white. The sound of his bones breaking and then mending themselves could be heard, his fingers, arms and legs growing longer. His finger nails broke off and were replaced with sharp, longer ones which were a length of a ruler. The uniform that he was wearing was torn off, as his muscles started to bulge and grow. And from his back, four, spider-like appendages came out, the tips looking sharp like knives. Finally, his sharp eyes suddenly disappeared and his white sclera turned blood red, and at that point Tenten was speechless.

 _What's... going on?_ Tenten asked in her mind, looking at the monstrosity that used to be a human. The thing before her began to grin, showing off it's sharpened teeth, and chuckled. The brunette's heart was now going into overdrive. Was she... going to die? Was this thing going to kill her? She got the answer to that as the white-skinned monster slowly started to make it's way toward her.

 _No... I don't want to die. I don't want to die!_ Tenten slowly started to shuffle backwards. Tears had started to fall from her eyes. _I don't want to die... I don't want to die. No. Stay away. Stay way from me!_ And then, for the first time that Tenten could remember, she let a high pitch scream, "NOOOOO!" and then stood up, albeit clumsly, and began to run in the other direction. She hoped maybe if she got to somewhere public, then maybe it would stop chasing her.

But then, she suddenly felt a shadow go over the top of her head and in the next moment, the monster, that she tried to escape from, dropped down in front of her. She stopped, and took a step back. Before she could run in the other direction, the monster opened it's mouth and something green flew from within it, heading straight for the brunette. It hit the girl's mouth sticking to it, and before she could process what was going on, the monster lunged at her.

She hit the ground on her back, and It quickly straddled her, grasping the brunette's wrists and placing them above her head. She began to struggle, but it was useless. The monster's strength was too strong and she couldn't scream because of what was on her mouth. The white-skinned fiend's face moved closer to Tenten's. She could feel it's hot breath on her skin and she turned her head away.

"You know," the monster began, "you look pretty cute up close." It opened it's mouth and two, long green tongues came out. The long muscles began to explore the girl's face and neck. The tongue was cold and slimy, and it made Tenten shiver.

"And you taste nice too, hehehe." he continued, retracting his tongue back. "I'm going to enjoy devouring you..."

A gasped escaped from the girl's muffled mouth and, with wide eyes, looked back at the monster, only to see it's mouth split apart into four. Each part had sharp teeth that looked like it could crunch anything in an instant with ease.

 _Don't tell me_ thought Tenten. _It's going to eat me?_

"Now then," the monster spoke. "I wanted to do this somewhere quiet and isolated, so that I could enjoy my meal. But thanks to you, I won't get that chance. So now, I have to rush."

Drool and saliva began to drip from the monster's open jaw and they landed on the girl's face. But she didn't flinch from it, didn't turn away. She just kept staring at the parted mouth full of teeth. Tears, she didn't know that she was shedding, ran down the side of her face and hit the floor. But even though she was crying, she felt calm.

No. Not calm. It was just that she had given up. Her mouth was gagged with strange gunk, so she couldn't speak, let alone scream. Her hands were restrained above her head and the monster was straddling her, so she couldn't even move. So, what was the point of struggling now?

Knowing that she was going to die, time seemed to slow down for her and during it, there were two things that the brunette regretted. One of them being Hinata. She never told her how much the ravenette meant to her. How she was the bright light, in Tenten's dark world. She never told her she loved her. It wasn't love in that sort of way, but more of a sisterly love. Tenten considered Hinata to be her younger sister, who used to be shy and timid and now who was down right clumsy. But she loved both sides of her.

The other was Haruno Sakura. She wanted to apologise to her for acting like a idiot. The brunette found it a little funny. When the pink haired girl first came to the school, she couldn't stand her. She was cold, arrogant, and she brushed anyone off who would try and be nice to her. And when the same thing happened to Hinata, Tenten, by then, wanted to punch the living daylights out of her. But then, she changed. She didn't know when it happened, but when the younger girl had apologised to her class, to her as well, the pinkette had become kinder, more gentle. Tenten had to admit that she was a little jealous of the girl, but she would never say it out loud.

And when it came to the fight between her and the pinkette, for Hinata, she really wanted to slap herself in the face. Telling her to give Hinata back was just the possessive side of being a big sister. It was true that she would be lonely and she knew that her life wouldn't be the same without Hinata by her side. But... she was growing up. She was growing up so much, to the point where the ravenette was now helping out someone else, and was relying on her less and less. And as a big sister, she couldn't be more proud of what the girl was becoming.

Besides, Haruno was strong, their fight in the gymnasium proving that. Maybe her dying wouldn't be so bad, when the ravenette had someone else who could take care of her.

"Oh, you're not going to struggle any more?"

Tenten was then brought back to the present. She looked into the mouth that would devour her, and the light in the brunette's eyes faded, until they became dull. She was still there, but she just accepted her fate and was now waiting for that moment.

"Well then," the monster said. "Itadakimasu!" Giving thanks to it's food, the white fiend launched itself to bite Tenten's head off.

 _Goodbye Hinata._ she thought sadly. _And goodbye, Haruno... I'm sorry._

When the monster's mouth was just about to clamp down on Tenten's face, something unexpected happened. A foot suddenly came into her line of sight and said foot had kicked the white monster square in it's face. And before she knew it, a huge weight was lifted off of her as the monster was flung backwards like a rag doll. The girl's dull eyes soon found light in them once more and she quickly sat up, wondering who's foot that belonged to.

Her eyes widened. The person in front of her had their back turned to her. But with the sight of pink hair that was swaying in the breeze, she couldn't help but be surprised. Haruno Sakura. She was standing in between her and the white-skinned monster. She was standing tall and firm. Unafraid of the monster that was before her, her emerald gaze strong.

"TENTEN!" A very familiar voice cried out the brunette's name and she turned her head toward the sound.

 _Hinata!_ Tenten said in her thoughts, also surprised to see her here as well.

The ravenette, after having gotten to the brunette, knelt down by her side. "Are you alright?" she asked, voice full of concern and worry. She wanted to say that she was fine but realized she still couldn't, and having noticed it herself, Hinata reached out and grasped the gunk on the girl's mouth and, after few seconds, managed to pull the thing off and threw it away.

Finally able to breathe again through her mouth, Tenten began to cough. Some of the gunk had gotten into her mouth and she tried getting it out. "I'm fine now," she said when she finished. She then turned her gaze to her best friend. "What are you-" she stopped herself. She realized now wasn't the time to ask. "Never mind, we need to get out of here now before that thing attacks us!"

But despite how worried she was, Hinata was the complete opposite. She was smiling and she looked calm, like none of what was going on was real. "It's alright Tenten," she told her in a reassuring voice.

The brunette wanted ask her what part it was alright, but before she could voice it, the white-skinned fiend began to speak. It's voice still sent a shiver down the girl's spine as she and Hinata turned to look. The monster wasn't speaking to Tenten, but to the pinkette instead.

"And who the hell are you?" it growled. It's face was red, probably from the kick it received before. "You disturbed me in the middle of my meal."

"Who am I?" the pinkette repeated. "I am..." she started, raising her left arm out. In the next moment, it suddenly combusted into black flames. Her eyes widened and she began to worry about he arm, but like it arrived, her worry vanished. The black flames wrapped around the girl's arm then travelled to the front of her palm and then started to take shape. Grasping it, the black flames dissipated, leaving behind a long weapon.

A scythe. Tenten couldn't help but be intimidated by the thing. It looked heavy to hold, even with two hands, but when the girl twirled it above her head and swung it to the side like it weighed nothing, a question had appeared in Tenten's mind. Who the hell was Haruno Sakura?

"Your destruction!" roared Haruno, finishing her sentence from before.

The question could wait. Right now, it didn't matter. She didn't know why, but seeing the younger girl in front of her, with her confidence and hardened gaze, Tenten knew that she was safe. And at the moment, that was all she cared about.

* * *

 **And there you have it. I hope you are now happy Celestialfae, Tenten Survived! Thanks for reading and please leave a review, telling me whether you liked it and any improvements I can do to make it better. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	14. Reconciliation, The Truth Revealed

**Hey guys and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. Sorry for the late update. And also (bowing my head down) I want to apologise for this chapter as well. I had a few problems with it, the problem mainly being writers block. It was all in my head but I couldn't get it out.**

 **So I apologise if this chapter isn't up to the ones that I've written so far.**

 **Anyway, like always, I apologise in advance for grammar mistakes,** **repetitiveness and poor writing. And I hope you (or try to) enjoy.**

 **I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs are mine.**

* * *

The sky was still a mixture of orange and purple as the sun was on it's last thread of light, slowly starting to go over the horizon as night would soon take over. The sight, if anybody saw it, would be captivating and majestic. Some people would say it would the most romantic thing they had ever seen. But, unfortunately for the three girls, Haruno Sakura, Hiramatsu Tenten and Hyūga Hinata, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the sun setting at this moment as there was a huge obstacle in the way. The white-skinned fiend.

After Sakura's declaration, everything went silent. The only sound that was filling that silence was the sound of everyone breathing. The pinkette gave the demon before her a menacing glare, while Hinata looked on with a calm and serious demeanour. She knew that she should be scared, terrified, but after experiencing this sort of thing the first time with the demonic woman, that was all it took for her to be this way. Plus, the main reason was that she trusted Sakura and believed in her, and always would.

Tenten however was watching with bated breath, wondering what was going to happen next. For her, the silence that was hanging over them lasted for eternity, but she knew that it only lasted a couple of seconds so far. The only thing Tenten could do at the moment was sit there and wait to see what would happen.

"Hehehe. HAHAHAHA!" The silence was finally broken by a bone chilling laughter, coming from the demon. Sakura narrowed her emerald eye and furrowed her brow. Whatever it was, the demon found it hilarious. "You? My Destruction?" it said, repeating what the pinkette said before and then laughed even harder. After a few seconds, it's laughter started to die down, and when it finished, the smirk came back on it's white lips.

"I'll admit," it continued, "that kick from before surprised me. I was distracted and you got in a lucky shot, but it won't happen again." It pointed at Sakura's scythe with it's bony index finger. "Now why don't you put that thing away before you hurt that pretty face of yours?" the demon asked her with a sharp tooth grin.

"Thanks, but no thanks," the girl replied, the corners of her mouth lifting up, forming a smile. But not a moment later did the smile she have disappear, replacing it with a serious look and taking her battle stance.

"Then..." the smirk that was on the white-skinned demon's face also vanished. It's blood red pupiless eyes meeting the girl's with the same look. The demon then lowered it's body slightly, it's eyes never leaving the pinkette's gaze. "HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" it roared those last words out ,and, like a wild animal filled with blood rage, charged at the scythe wielding girl with a battle cry that would shatter thick glass.

Not wanting this fight to last longer than it should, Sakura also ran towards the demon, meeting it half way. When both demonic presences were close to one another, the white fiend swung it's arm in a horizontal arc, it's ruler length nails trying to rip into the pinkette's throat. But the pinkette was faster, and she dodged it easily, ducking underneath the strike. And, after a second that she crouched, Sakura sprung back up, bringing her scythe into a diagonal slash. The sharp tipped weapon connected to the demon's hip and sliced through it's shoulder, until the blade came back out of it.

The battle was over before it even begun.

The white-skinned demon's blood red sclera widened, it's mouth a gape. Slowly, like a snail moving on the ground, the demon's upper half of the diagonal cut started to slide down. The pinkette continued to watch the demon slide down further and further and when it was just about to fall off, Sakura heard a quiet, "You bitch," before it finally toppled over, both parts hitting the ground with a giant thud.

Straightening her back, Sakura swung her scythe back to her side, cutting the air around her while doing so. She stared at the demon's crumbled body before her, it's eyes wide and mouth still a gape. Closing her emerald eye, her blue tinted scythe suddenly became engulfed in black flames and vanished from her hand. Opening her eye, she gave the body one last glance before turning on her heel, making her way toward the two girl's who were still on the floor.

* * *

 _Amazing..._

That was the only thing that was running through Tenten's mind at that moment of time. Not moments ago, the white-skinned monster had been towering over her, sending shivers down her spine with it's wicked, pupiless gaze and bone tingling laugh. Now, it was on the floor dead, unmoving. It's body spilt diagonally in half, with a clean, perfect cut. And the cause of it's demise was now walking up towards her and Hinata. With just one stroke of the girl's scythe, the pinkette had ended everything. The brunette had to admit though, with all it's boasting from before and dying with just one attack, it felt slightly anticlimactic to her.

"Good work Sakura-chan," Hinata said with a smile. Haruno also smiled, nodding in return, before she turned her attention on Tenten.

"Are you okay, Hiramatsu?" the pinkette asked her.

But Tenten remained silent, not giving the girl an answer. She lowered her head so that her bangs covered her eyes, shadowing them. _I really am an idiot_ the girl thought to herself, a defeated smile forming on her lips. Having not recieved a reply, the pinkette called out Tenten's name once more and then, instead of giving the answer she was looking for, the brunette said what was really going on in her mind.

"I never had a chance against you did I?" she asked, looking back up, her grey eyes meeting emerald green. The younger girl looked at Tenten confusingly. She probably wondered what the brunette was talking about. "The sparring match back at the school," she continued. "You could have beaten me easily like you did that monster. So why didn't you?" She then asked the question that has been on her mind for a while. "Who are you really, Haruno Sakura?"

Again there was silence, as the pinkette and brunette locked gazes on one another. From the corner of her eye, it looked like Hinata wanted to say something, and if she knew her best friend, it was probably to de-spell the sudden tension that was now hanging in the air. However, she didn't need to say anything as the pinkette closed her eyes, and let out a sigh. And when she opened her eye, it looked like the younger girl had come to some sort of decision.

Kneeling down in front of her, Haruno had begun to roll up the sleeve of her one sleeved top that was underneath her school shirt. Doing that revealed her gauzed wrapped arm, and then, the pinkette reached out with her other hand, and slowly began to unravel it. Tenten heard a slight gasp coming from Hinata, but the brunette's gaze was too focused on the arm that was slowly becoming unwrapped.

At first, Tenten wondered what Haruno was doing, showing the brunette her arm. But, as the gauze was leaving the girl's arm, bit by bit, Tenten's eyes began to grow wide. Her heart had started to thump, loudly in her ears, when all of the gauze had been removed. The younger girl's left arm was the blackest of reds that she had ever seen, like she had been stuck in a fiery inferno. Even though it was defiantly human shaped, Tenten's gut feeling knew that it was far from it.

Next, using her now exposed demonic looking arm, she reached for her eye patch that concealed her left eye and took the bit of material off. Behind it, Tenten was met with an closed eye lid, which then slowly opened. The brunette was then met with an eye that you would only see in anime or manga. The pinkette's eye was a golden-yellow in colour, with a black slit for an iris, like a cat's eye. And surrounding the iris were four tomoe marks, two on each side of the iris.

 _Beautiful..._ was Tenten's honest thoughts.

"My name is Haruno Sakura," Haruno spoke, bringing Tenten back from her thoughts. The girl was now introducing herself again and the brunette wondered why. But her answer soon came with what the younger girl said next. "I am a half blood. Half human and... half demon."

"Half... demon..." Tenten repeated slowly. After a couple of seconds, realization came hitting her like a truck. "Then, that means you're..." The pink haired girl gave the brunette a nod, knowing where her train of thought was going.

"That's right," she confirmed, turning her head to gaze upon the corpse of the monster behind her. "I'm part of them." The younger girl then glared at it for a good sold moment. In her gaze, it looked like she was expecting something to happen to the body by now. But she had no idea what it was.

When the pinkette turned back to look at Tenten, the brunette was slightly taken aback. The girl's eyes were gently looking into hers. Not once, since they've known each other, has the younger girl in front of her given her that kind of look. It was the sought of look that she'd seen given only to Hinata. And now, she was being looked at that way.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tenten had to ask. At this point, any sane person would run away, having been told that the person in front of them was the same as the monster she just what the pinkette just told her was probably a huge secret. Apart from Hinata, why would she give the brunette the honour of knowing of who she really was?

"I want to apologise about before," the girl said, making Tenten think for a moment. "About the match you and I had, back at school. Everything I did back then, making you act rash. I did it all on purpose." The brunette's eyes widened a fraction from the truth. Haruno continued. "You were hurting. You may not have shown it, but deep inside you were. And I wanted to help you out, but I fear that I only made it worse.

"And also..." she paused for a moment. Then, with a gentle smile, matching her eyes, the pinkette spoke with sincerity. "I trust you... Tenten."

At this point, Tenten had lost the amount of times that she had widened her eyes in either shock or surprise. An apology was one thing, but to hear the girl say that she trusted her, with that gentle expression on her face, made the girl's chest tight. She wasn't even expecting Haruno to call her by her first name either. Tenten knew that she didn't deserve this kindness. She didn't deserve it at all. But... If the girl in front of her said all of that, and by the sounds of it, was willing to start over again, then she'd have to come clean herself and be honest. Just like how Haruno was for her.

Closing her eyes, Tenten took in a breath. Then she spoke. "I hated you," she said opening her eyes. Her grey pools still met gentle emerald and demonic ones. "You were cold, harsh. You brushed off anyone trying to talk to you. And when you did it to Hinata, I despised you. I wanted to beat you to a pulp." Saying that so far, the pinkette's eyes darkened slightly and turned her gaze to the floor. From that action, Tenten knew that the girl was regretting what she did. Tenten was a little happy from that. At least she knew the girl was honest.

"Even after you apologised to everyone and began socializing with them, I still hated you," Tenten continued. This time, she looked towards the ground. Her own regret weighing down heavily on her shoulders. "And when you and Hinata became friends, I started to feel jealous. She was spending more time with you, and when I saw what had happened in the nurse's office, I just lost it."

Tenten then went onto her knees, and lowered her head towards the girl. She heard Hinata call her name in surprise, probably not expecting to prostrate herself. "I'm sorry, Haruno!" she apologised loudly. "If I hadn't been so selfish, so jealous, things leading up to this point wouldn't had to happen. You wouldn't have had to fight! You wouldn't have had to reveal who you were to protect me!" Tenten could feel her eyes starting to sting, and her body was shaking uncontrollably. She didn't why she was starting to cry, but it happened anyway.

Soon after, there was only silence. The only thing that could be heard was the quiet whimpers of the brunette. Tenten thought she was pathetic. Here she was, her head bowed down and crying like an idiot. Her eyes were shut tight, trying her best to not let any more tears fall but it was futile to do so.

Just as the silence, and the weight on her shoulders, were about to crush her, Tenten could tell there was something in front of her face. Slowly opening her eyes, her grey orbs saw a hand, the palm facing upward. The hand could only belong to one person and when she looked up, following the arm, there stood Haruno Sakura. With one hand on her knee and the other being extended out to her, the pinkette looked down on Tenten with another gentle expression.

Thanks to the orange and purple sky, Haruno looked like she was glowing and Tenten couldn't help herself but be amazed. Regardless if she was a demon or not, from where she was sat at that very moment, the girl looked like an angel, shining brightly. Looking back at the hand being extended to her, the brunette reached out with her own timidly. When her fingertips grazed the pinkette's hand, Tenten pulled back a bit, starting to have second thoughts.

She turned to look at Hinata, who looked back at her with one of her usual gentle smiles. The ravenette didn't need words to convey her feelings to Tenten. She grew up with her, so she can tell what she was saying by the look on her face, and it was telling her, no, _urging_ her to go for it. Then, returning her gaze to the pinkette's hand, Tenten closed her eyes and a small smile appeared on her lips. She really didn't deserve it, but...

The girl then opened her eyes, looked up to meet gazes with the pink haired girl and, with her smile still on her face, grasped the younger girl's hand. Tenten was easily pulled up to her feet.

"You have nothing to feel sorry for," said Haruno.

"Neither do you," Tenten said back.

The pair then began to chuckle for a moment, which was a first. Then, Tenten's grey eyes became serious. "Thank you. For giving me another chance," she told her. "And I promise you that I won't tell anyone that you're a demon. You have my word... Sakura."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly at the use of her first name, but it changed back and she gave a nod to the brunette. Giving the girl a nod back, Tenten suddenly felt herself being embraced from the side. "Tenten!" It was Hinata.

"W-What is it Hinata!" Tenten exclaimed, trying to keep herself balanced so she wouldn't fall over. "Why are you clinging onto me all of a sudden?!"

"I'm happy!" she cried, tightening her embrace. "You and Sakura-chan are now friends!"

The brunette's cheeks had started to turn red from embarrassment and tried to pull off her clinging childhood friend. But on the inside, Tenten couldn't have been any more happier. A huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she was playing around with Hinata like she did when they were younger. Sakura, rival turned friend, had forgiven her and she was smiling at her and the ravenette as they were having their playful banter.

"He...He...He...He..."

But the happy moment the three girls shared was quickly snatched away from them by a sinister laughter.

* * *

Sakura's eyes widened, and then narrowed, before she turned on her heel, doing a complete one eighty. The head of the white-skinned demon's corpse had craned it's neck up, it's pupiless blood eyes staring at the her and the two girl's behind her.

The pinkette glared at it. She knew it. She just knew it. She had a feeling that it wasn't the end. The demon didn't vanish in black mist like the rest of the demons she had slain. Sakura had pegged it for just being delayed, but she should have known better. She was kicking herself now. She had let her guard down too much!

"What's wrong little girl?" the demon asked Sakura, cocking it's brow. The pinkette glared harder at the thing on the floor. "Surprised to see me still kicking? Did you really think that was the end?" The white fiend then laughed once more, causing Sakura to clench her teeth and tighten her fists until they turned a pale white.

"Now then," the monster continued. "I think it's about time that I got up."

With those words leaving it's mouth, a low growl began to erupt from it's throat. Sakura, wondering what it was doing, didn't take any chances and summoned back her scythe, taking a defensive stance. What she saw next surprised her.

Underneath the upper diagonal half of the demon's body, where Sakura had cut it in half, it suddenly started to bubble, like water in a bowl on top of a fire. The same thing was happening to the demon's cut lower half, as it too started to bubble. Then, slowly, it began to grow in length and take shape. The upper half was growing an arm, torso and legs, while the lower half started to do the same and grew an arm, chest, neck and head.

The pinkette's eyes widened, her defensive stance slackening. Standing there now were two white skinned fiends, two pairs of blood red pupiless eyes staring into the pinkette's emerald and demonic orbs. What the hell was this thing?!

"So, what do you think of my ability?" one of the demons spoke.

"Quite useful don't you think?" said the other.

Gaining back her composure, Sakura tightened her defences again. Knowing what the thing in front of her was could wait. Right now things were looking a little bad. But the pinkette had a feeling that things were only going to get worse. A creepy smiled then formed on the demon's lips, turning to look at it's twin self and giving it a nod with it's head. The other one did the same, and they both looked back at the pinkette. Sometimes, Sakura really started to hate herself for being right with her feelings.

The white-skinned fiend slowly raised it's hand up, it's fingers straight and ruler-length nails sharp, and, with a strike that was like lightning hitting the the ground at the speed of sound, swung it's arm at it's twin self. The pink haired demon eyes widened as it's head was instantly cut off, and hit the ground, the smirk never leaving it's face. The body remained standing and after a few seconds, the neck cut began to bubble. And like before, the bubble's started to morph and take shape into a head.

The head on the floor also went through the same thing. A body was forming and taking shape, and when it was finished, a third white demon was born and stood with the other two. Now, the pinkette was facing three demons instead of the original one. Things were looking grim for her.

"What are you going to do now little girl?" the demon who had it's head cut off asked with an lopsided smirk.

"As you can see, you're out numbered," said another. "Even if you are a demon like us, you should know that you're at a disadvantage."

"And since you're a fellow demon," the last demon said, " and we're such nice gentlemen, we'll give you a chance." Sakura narrowed her eyes. "We'll let you go, but we'll have those girls behind you." the demon continued, gesturing to Hinata and Tenten behind the pinkette.

"What do you think? A good deal wouldn't you say?"

But the demon got no reply from the pink haired girl. The pinkette had straightened herself, defensive posture forgotten about, and her eyes downcast, her pink locks covering them. "Do you know what happened to the last demon who said that to me," Sakura then asked after a long pause. The pinkette then raised her head, her eyes meeting the three pairs of pupiless eyes. A small smile playeing on her lips. The demon's grins had all but disappeared and their eyes narrowed.

"I defeated it." And with those words, Sakura's demonic eye began to glow. Power had started to course through her body like flowing water in a stream. A perfect circle of black flame had suddenly appeared and surrounded the girl's feet and in the next instant, the black flames shot up, engulfing Sakura in a inferno of blackness. And, after a couple of more seconds, the black flames began to shrink. It shrunk into human shape, before it completely dispersed.

"Izanami," Sakura called out a name, now in her demonic form, which the pinkette decided to name it as. A long defined, robe-like black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flared out into ragged ends and had white lining and a hood. A black kimono with cherry blossom petals imprinted on it, with a black divided umanori hakama and white split-toe socks and waraji covering the pinkette's feet. With the scythe that was in her hand, plus the outfit that she was wearing, it looked like Sakura was the grim reaper incarnate.

Ignoring the demons in front of her for the moment, Sakura turned her head slightly so she could see the girl's behind her. She noticed that Tenten was looking at her with saucer-like eyes and it was a comical sight for her. Sakura couldn't blame her for that reaction. But there wasn't much time to dawdle.

"Hinata. Tenten," she called to them, bringing the brunette back from where ever she was. "Get away from here as far as you can and hide. Now."

"Right," Hinata replied, giving the pinkette a nod. She then turned to her best friend, and with a "Let's go Tenten," the ravenette grasped the older girl's hand and pulled her towards the forest of trees and bushes in the park. When they left her field of vision, Sakura brought her attention back on the three evil entities in front of her.

"Now that they're gone," Sakura spoke, the smile from before returning to her face. "Shall we begin?"

 **There you have it. If this chapter didn't meet up to your standards, then I'm so very sorry. Thanks for reading anyway and please leave a review. And if there are any improvements I can do to make it better, please let me know. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	15. The Immortal Demon! Sakura's Quiet Anger

**Hey guys and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love.**

 **Like I've said in other chapters, and in future chapters as well, I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. Anyway on with the story.**

 **I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs are mine.**

* * *

"Do you think we're far away enough?" Tenten asked her childhood friend.

She and Hinata were sitting behind a large tree, their backs on the old bark of wood, in the park which was surrounded by lots of green bushes.

After being told by Sakura to leave, the ravenette had dragged the older girl deeper in the park, into the forest of trees which was one of many popular tourist places in Konohagakure. Tenten didn't know how far they had gone, but she knew it was far enough that she could barely hear the fight between the pinkette and the demons. She was met with only silence as she was sitting on the soft grass, next to her best friend.

"Seems like it for now," Hinata replied, looking in the direction of were they left Sakura. "But we shouldn't let our guard down yet. Not until Sakura-chan comes looking for us."

The brunette turned to her friend. "You really do believe in her don't you?" she asked. Hinata then turned her gaze to the floor, a little smile forming on her face.

"I do," she said. "It was because of her that I'm still here today."

Tenten furrowed her brows. What did she mean that she was here today? As if she knew what was going on in the brunette's mind, Hinata looked into her grey orbs and the smile on her face lowered slightly. "I guess I should tell you what happened to me," she said. And that she did.

Tenten listened as Hinata told her story. The girl told her how on the day that Sakura transferred into their school, she was attacked by two demons, a spider-like creature and a pink skinned demon, and how she almost died by their hands. That made the brunette's eyes grow wide, but when the ravenette told her that Sakura had arrived just in time to save her, her eyes went back to their original size. She listened on how the pinkette had killed the spider-like demon with ease and made the other retreat with it's tail between it's legs. But in the process of doing so, revealed who she really was.

The girl then told her about how, during the next night, she had found the pink haired demon in a construction site, injured, and before she could help her, the pink skinned demon had returned with a vengeance. After that, Hinata stopped talking for a moment. The brunette noticed the look of anguish on her face, and her chest tightened. Whatever it was that she was going to say next wasn't going to be pleasant to hear.

The older girl put a comforting hand on Hinata's shoulder. "That's enough," she told her, "you don't need to say any more."

But the white eyed girl shook her head. "I'm alright," she replied. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Then, opening her eyes she continued. "When the demon arrived, she was about to kill Sakura-chan. But, before she could I... stepped in between them. And then, I was impaled." The ravenette started to gingerly touch her stomach. Even today, she could still feel the cold sharp metal that pierced her body. She knew that it would take a long time before she could forget that feeling.

"Hinata..." Tenten whispered her name. It really pained her to see her childhood friend this way.

"But, to be honest, I'm glad it happened," she said. Tenten wasn't expecting to hear those words. "Because of it, Sakura-chan was able to find a new power and defeat the demon. But more importantly, I got to see her gentle side." Hinata could still remember all of the details of that night. Being held in her strong arms and had given the ravenette a gentle look and smile. She also remembered how the younger girl had opened up to her and on the next day, she saw the girl's cute sleeping face next to her in her bed.

A smile had started to form on Hinata's's face and her cheeks had started to become hot at the memory. Tenten noticed the raven haired girl's face and she most likely knew the reason why. _Hinata..._ Tenten called her friend's name in her thoughts. _Is it possible that you're-_

"That's why I believe in her," Hinata spoke, cutting off Tenten's train of thought. Her cheeks had become a normal colour and her eyes shown confidence. "And that's why I'll wait for her." The brunette, seeing that look on the girl's face and staring at her for a moment, just smiled.

 _You're a really lucky girl Sakura_ the brunette thought. She tightened her grip on Hinata's shoulder and the ravenette looked up to meet her gaze. Just like the ravenette, Tenten now had a confident look, with a smile to go with it as well. "I believe in her too," she declared. Hinata's eyes widened at what her friend said, but it soon vanished, replaced with a smile. She gave Tenten a nod and with that, both girls decided to do what Hinata said and wait for Sakura to find them, their belief strong.

 _SPLAT!_

Suddenly, Tenten felt something wet and slimy hit her hand which was laying on top of Hinata's shoulder. The ravenette heard the sound also, and both girl's looked. The back of the brunette's hand was covered with something green and not a second later, another green drop joined the first.

Both girl's hearts practically stopped at that moment, their eyes wide as saucers and a cold sweat had cascaded down their backs. Slowly, both girls looked up and were met with the sight of four sets of sharp teeth and blood red pupiless eyes that were gazing at the two girl's with hungrily.

The white skinned demon was above them, it's sharp nails digging into the tree so that it wouldn't fall. It's mouth was split into four and more green saliva came out from it's parted jaw. A low menacing chuckle escaped it's throat, and before the girls could do anything, the white fiend roared and lunged itself at the two individuals.

Hinata and Tenten screamed.

* * *

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sakura let out a battle cry as she swung her massive blue tinted scythe with swiftness. She cut the white skinned demon in front of her into two parts, and when it hit the ground, with her increased speed from her demonic form, she went to the next demon, cutting it down with an diagonal slash. When that one fell also, the pinkette jumped away from the corpse in front of her and into a safe distance.

Exhaustion began to hit her when she landed, her breathing beginning to become laboured. But tiredness wasn't the only thing Sakura was feeling at that moment. Frustration was also kicking in, and that was because of the demonic presences that she had just cut down. Like the first one she had brought down, the wounds from the severed corpses begun to bubble, grow and take shape. When that was finished, four demons had stood up, including the two she had 'killed' and the pinkette gritted her teeth.

Things were starting getting ridiculous. No matter how many she had killed, more had risen. Even when she killed one that wasn't decapitated, or had any part of it's limbs missing, the demon would heal at an incredible rate. The demon was like a hydra from Greek mythology. She had cut one demon into three and from it, two more appeared from it. Thanks to her failed attempts at killing the white skinned fiend, the pinkette was now facing more demons than before. Twenty of them to be exact, counting the four that been brought back.

The demonic girl could feel the sweat from her forehead cascade down her face. _What the hell should I do?!_ she screamed in her thoughts. _There has to be away of ending this!_ As if the demon could tell the pink haired girl's distraught thoughts, all twenty of them began to smile.

Ready to give up girly?" one the demon's asked her.

"Even you must know that you can't win against us?" said another demon mockingly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, her brows furrowed in anger. "I'm not going to stop," she spoke, venom in her voice. "So long as you exist in this world, Hinata and Tenten, as well as every man, woman and child in Konohagakure, won't be safe from your clutches."

All the demons smirked at that. "Then have it your way," it said, and with that the assault had begun once more.

Four out of the twenty demons charged at the pinkette at once, Sakura tightening the grip of her weapon. Forgetting her exhaustion, the pink haired girl sprung into action. The first demon to attack her, jumped into the air and lunged forwards, it's ruler length nails pointing at her. She immediately vanished, the demon's arm hitting nothing but air from where the girl was standing, and because of it's momentum, it couldn't stop, effectively stabbing the ground.

The girl reappeared and the instant that she did, she decapitated it's head from it's shoulders. Not missing a beat, Sakura went straight toward the three remaining demons, cutting down two of them with a horizontal arc of her weapon. The fourth demon took two swipes of it's clawed hands and followed it with a thrust of one of it's sharp tipped appendage. The younger girl dodged the two swipes and parried the appendage away from her, twisting her body and bringing her scythe down upon her opponent.

Once more, she moved out of the way of the corpses, but even Sakura knew at this point that she was only adding more fuel to the fire. That was evident enough as the demons she just dispatched had already risen from the ground with more of them following.

Fatigue was starting to rack Sakura's body now. She had started to lean on her weapon, and being in her demonic form for so long was taking a toll on her body. The power was still new to her, so she wasn't used to it yet. But she couldn't give up, not now. Until the demons in front of her were all destroyed, Sakura couldn't rest. And with that thought in mind, she straightened herself, ready for the next wave of attacks that were about to come.

"You're wide open."

Sakura's eyes widened as voice spoke from behind her. The girl quickly turned her entire body around, and the moment she did, the white skinned fiend behind her wrapped it's bulging arms around the girl's smaller frame. The pinkette closed her eyes tightly. The demon was literally squeezing the life out of her. If it wasn't for the fact that she was a demon as well, her bones would have been crushed.

Managing to open one eye from the pain she was feeling, the girl's gaze met the smirk on the demon's face, obviously enjoying Sakura's pained expression. _Damn... it.._. the girl cursed in her thoughts. Things weren't looking good. The girl had barely any strength remaining, but she knew that she had to do something. Other wise, she was going to be killed. But that was when she noticed the four appendages on the demon's back. They had slowly extended themselves and before she could question what they were doing, she felt four sharp tipped blade's penetrate her body, two between her shoulder blades and two in her lower back.

The pinkette let out a scream as the pain had instantly assaulted her body. The grip of her weapon slackened, making the scythe fall out of her grasp and hit the floor.

"That's a lovely face you've got there," the demon spoke. Sakura gritted her teeth again, and glared at the demon holding her. "Now, why don't you be a good little girl and die." With those words, the demon's mouth split into four, making Sakura recoil slightly from the stench of death in it's breath. If the demon thought, though, that Sakura was just going to keel over and die, it had another thing coming.

Thinking that, Sakura cocked her head back as far as she could and then snapped it forward. Her forehead hit the demon square in the face and it roared in pain, releasing the girl from it's appendages and it's grip. When the demon's grasp slackened, Sakura pushed herself away by kicking the white fiend in the chest, making it stumble back, and the girl jumped, high into the air.

 _Come on Sakura think!_ thought the girl. She might of brought herself sometime now but it wouldn't last long. The girl's emerald and demonic pools looked at the horde of demons that were below her. Her fight against this immortal foe was never going to end, unless she could think of a way of stopping it's regenerating ability. _There's got to be a way!_

High pitched screams, however, brought Sakura out of her thoughts. Those screams just now came from deeper in the park, which could only mean one thing. That her friends were in trouble. _Tenten! Hinata!_ she cried in her thoughts. Worry had started to take over the girl's body, and she needed to go and help them. Now.

But before she could even think about helping her two friends, Sakura felt a malicious presence behind her. Turning to look, she saw that one of the demons had gotten higher than her. Again, her eyes widened, and the demon gave her a evil grin.

"Don't get distracted now!" he shouted out before twisting it's body forward, the heel of it's foot heading for the girl. The pinkette, managing to turn herself around, crossed her arms in front of her body and was able to take the blow. The strike was so strong however, that it forced Sakura to fall from the high drop. She came crashing down and hit the ground, hard, causing a dust covered cloud to emerge from where she impacted on the floor

When the cloud dissipated, the pinkette was lying on the ground, within a small crater. Her entire body was aching. It was screaming at her, telling her that she couldn't do any more and needed to stop. But she couldn't stop, not yet. So, ignoring what her body was telling her, Sakura turned her body around so that her arms were now keeping her up. Her vision was slightly blurry from being knocked around, but through the crowd of demons, the pink haired girl could make out two slim figures coming out from the forest of trees.

And those figures were getting chased by one of the white skinned fiends. Gritting her teeth and baring it, Sakura slowly, and painfully, got up on her two feet. She breathed heavily as hunched over.

* * *

Hinata and Tenten let out a scream. Then, they jumped out of the way of the incoming demon, the fiend landing where the two girl's had originally been. Without missing a beat, the two girls jumped out of their hiding place and ran. They didn't know where, but they both mentally agreed that anywhere was better than with the monster that was now chasing them.

As they ran, the demon that was following them had begun to shoot out it's green gunk from it's parted mouth and Hinata and Tenten would dodge, left and right, avoiding the flying projectiles. But even though that slowed them down, they didn't stop. Even when exhaustion hit them like a ton of bricks, and their muscles began to hurt, they kept running. Because they both knew that being caught meant death.

"Hinata look!" Tenten shouted after a few minutes of running, pointing forward.

The ravenette looked at her friend running by her side before she did what she was told. The brunette's finger was pointing to an opening in the forest of trees that was quite a distance away. There was something nagging in the back of Hinata's head. It felt like she had seen that opening before, but the girl ignored it and she and Tenten ran faster than they had before. When they finally got to it and rushed through, Hinata knew why it looked so familiar. And she now wished that she had listened to her feelings.

The opening that Tenten had pointed out to, had lead them... back to where they had started. Both girls had stopped in their tracks and stared at the huge amount of white-skinned demons that plagued the park. When they heard another roar from behind them, Hinata and Tenten snapped back out of it and turned to look. Hot on their tail was the demon that they were running away from, coming at the two girls with inhuman speed.

"Come on Tenten!" Hinata cried to her friend.

"W-we're going through that!" the brunette replied back. Running towards a vast amount of demons didn't sound like a sane idea.

"We've got no other choice. Come on!"

"Wait Hinata!" Tenten shouted, but it was no use as the other girl began to run. And not wanting to be left alone, the brunette followed her friend.

As the two girls ran and were about to hit the wall of the horde of monsters, the tip of Tenten's foot had managed to hit a bump in the ground and the brunette fell to the floor in the process. Hinata stopped in her tracks when she heard a thud behind her and turned to see her friend had fallen. "Tenten!" Without having to think, the ravenette ran back to help her childhood friend.

"Ow, that hurt..." the girl whispered. She then tried to get up but soon as she knelt on her leg, pain shot through it and she went to the floor again. When a shadow suddenly loomed over her however, the pain vanished from her mind and instead, the sense of dread took over. Turning her head around like a robot, her grey orbs saw the monster, that had been chasing her and Hinata, looking down her with that bone chilling smile. Tenten's blood had run cold once more at the sight.

"Now you're mine!" it roared, raising it's clawed hand into the air and almost immediately bringing down upon the brunette. Suddenly, Tenten's field of vision went black, and she felt slender arms wrap around her body, as she was pushed out of the way. The brunette knew that it was Hinata that had pushed her and the two girls ended up rolling on the ground, until they slowly came to a stop.

Tenten's eyes had been tightly closed when she went rolling, so when they opened up, the first thing she saw was Hinata laying on top of her. "Hinata!" she cried out, moving her hand on to the younger girl's back. She could feel a sticky liquid underneath her palm, and when she took a look, her hand was covered in red. A worried gasp escaped Tenten's lips and she moved back slightly so she could get a better look at Hinata's back. What she saw made her grey pools grow small. The ravenette had four gashes on the back of her school vest and shirt, blood seeping through the wounds that the demon had created. Wounds that were meant for her.

"Are you... okay... Tenten...?" a small voice asked, making Tenten look down. The twin bunned girl's vision began to blur, worry tightening her heart. Even though Hinata was the one that was hurt, she didn't care about herself. She only cared about others and that's what made the girl amazing. But before she could give an answer, the white eyed girl gave her a small smile, saying in another whisper, "I'm... glad..." and then, like her strength had left her body, she closed her eyes, her full slumping forward.

"Hinata?" Tenten called her name, shaking the girl on top of her. But Tenten didn't receive an answer. All she got was silence. The water that had been building up in her eyes had started to flow out as she continued to shake the girl she called her little sister. "Hinata! Hinata! Wake up! HINATA!"

Tenten shook the girl again. And again. And again. And shook her some more. But the ravenette didn't open her eyes.

* * *

"Hi..na...ta..."

 _BA-DUM..._

Sakura stood there, her back straight and no longer hunched over, and her eyes wide. Her heart was thump slow and heavy, reverberating in her ears as she watched everything that had just transpired. From seeing her new friend, Tenten, falling to the ground and nearly getting clawed at by the demon, to Hinata pushing the brunette away from the danger, but in the process of doing so, she ended up as the one who got hurt. And now, even from this distance, the pinkette could hear Tenten wailing out Hinata's name.

 _BA-DUM... BA-DUM..._

Sakura lowered her head, her bangs shadowing her eyes and clenched her teeth tight, her hands slowly balling up into fists. It happened again. Hinata was hurt, again. She was hurt because Sakura wasn't fast enough. Wasn't strong enough. Even with this new power that she acquired, it was no match for the demon it was now facing. It was her fault. It was her fault that her friend was hurt again!

"Like I said before," yelled out one of the many copies of the demon. It charged at the pinkette who was completely defenceless. "You're wide open!" It stretched out it's arm with it's ruler length, sharp tipped nails, intending to kill.

 _BA-DUM... BA-DUM.. BA- GRAB!_

The white-skinned fiend's red sclera widened. Just as it had closed in on the pink haired girl, Sakura had raised her arm up and then, wrapping her slender fingers around the demon's hand, she grabbed the threatening appendage, effectively stopping the monster in it's tracks. The demon growled and began to push and pull, trying to get out of the girl's grasp. But it couldn't move. It was trapped.

Then, the pinkette slowly raised her head and looked deep into the demon's blood red pupiless eyes. When the demon gazed into the girl's emerald and demonic orbs, for the first time in it's existence, it was scared, terrified. Her eyes were cold. They held no emotion, except one. Rage. Pure rage. Her face was entirely neutral, but the eyes told the demon the whole story.

"You're... going to pay," Sakura growled out the words. Her demonic eye then began to glow brightly, and at the same time as it did, red liquid had started to fall from the golden-yellow orb's socket. From what the demon could tell, it was blood.

Not even a moment later that the blood began to pour out of her eye, that black flames suddenly combusted and wrapped itself around the girl's left arm. In the demon's pupiless eyes, the girl in front of it looked like the devil incarnate. It's blood running cold through it's body and it's fear intensifying. The words that the pinkette whispered next only added on to the that fear. The fear of the demon's own demise.

"Amaterasu..."

* * *

 **And there we go, another chapter done with.** **Thanks for reading and please leave a review and tell me anything that can improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated. I'll apologise now (like I always seem to do which probably pisses some people off) that if this chapter wasn't good enough either. After a chapter I, near enough, start a new one straight away, not giving myself time to rest. But I don't want to keep you guys waiting long for the next chapter. I'm so complicated that I sometimes hate myself -_-'**

 **Anyway** **thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter! - he says with an awkward smile.**


	16. Black Flames of Destruction, Amaterasu!

**Hey and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love and the second to last chapter of Tenten's arc.**

 **Like I've said in other chapters, and in future chapters as well, I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. Anyway on with the story.**

 **I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs are mine.**

* * *

"Amatarasu..." said Sakura as she glared, hard, at the demon in front of her, tightening the grip on it's bony fingers.

It was happening again. Like the time when Hinata almost died by the hands of the reddish-pink demon, and she was backed into a corner, the pinkette had seen a double of herself and called out a name that she didn't know the meaning of. And now she did it again. The girl didn't appear this time, but Sakura had spoken out another name, Amatarasu, like it was nothing. Like she knew what the name meant but couldn't place a finger on it.

After she had said the name, her demonic eye had started to glow and blood had begun to pour out of her eye. She could feel the warm, iron filled substance run down her cheek and from the corner of her eye she could see that her arm had been engulfed by her black flames. But even though this was happening to her body, the thing that stood out the most, was the power that she could feel flowing through her. She didn't know how, but in the back of her mind, she knew that this was the power that she needed to take down the immortal demon for good.

"Damn you," the demon growled. What the hell are you really?"

"Like I said before," Sakura began, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I'm your..." The pinkette extended her flamed arm out, and in front of her palm even more black flames appeared, starting to extend and take shape. "...destruction!" The flames had morphed into the shape of her scythe, and not missing a beat or wasting time, Sakura swung her black flamed weapon in the same place she had struck the original demon.

It's pupiless red eyes widened and the pinkette released it's hand. The white fiend staggered back a few steps and then looked down to inspect the damage. There was a trail, from it's hip to it's shoulder, of black flames, and when the demon saw that, it looked back up, just in time to see the girl's demonic eye glow. In the next instant, the flames that were on the demon's body grew, and in a matter of seconds, the white fiend had been engulfed by a black inferno.

"W-What the hell is this?!" the demon screamed. It's blood red pupiless eyes widened as it watched the black flames, that surrounded itself, tear away the flesh of it's skin off it's body. Fear had started to envelop it's body as it realised that it's regenerating powers wasn't working against this unknown power. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" was the final thing the demon screamed before it's body was disintegrated. When the flames vanished, there was nothing left of the demon that it had surrounded it.

Sakura stared at the spot, where the demon had been standing, for a few more moments before she looked up. She looked at the many copies of the demon, and they all wore similar expressions on their faces. Shock. Surprise. They weren't expecting this turn of events.

"So, who's next?" Sakura asked in a monotone voice.

Those words snapped the demons out of their dazes, as their expressions changed from shock to anger, all of the white fiend clones bared their teeth at the pinkette. With the order to attack coming from one of the clones, like a pack of bees homing on the fool would dare attack their hive, the remaining nineteen white fiends all charged at Sakura at once.

Narrowing her eyes and swinging her flaming scythe to the side, Sakura lept toward the horde of monsters heading her way. The first demon that came at her, it swung it's arm with it's long sharp nails pointing at the pinkette. Sakura dodged the attack with little effort, ducking underneath it's arm, and with her weapon, decapitated the white fiend and immediately went for the next one.

Once the she had dispatched that demon and pressed forward, three more came at her. One from the front, and two coming from both sides of her. They came at her with inhuman speed, but it didn't matter to the pink haired demon. As soon as they came in close proximity with her, she vanished from their sight. Not a moment later that the girl disappeared, that the demon's sensed something from above them and all three of the fiends looked up.

The girl they were looking for was high up in the air and while she was, the black flamed scythe in her hand had started to change it's shape. The pinkette's weapon changed into a cross scythe and when it was finished, Sakura twisted her body, her arm cocked back, and then threw her scythe at the trio below her. Like a buzzsaw spinning at a high speed, the cross scythe spun towards the three demons below, and like cutting in butter, the scythe carved through them cleanly, cutting all three in half.

When the flaming weapon returned to Sakura like a boomerang, as soon as she grasped it, the demon's instantly combusted into flames, their death cries echoing in the park. Once they were taking care of, gravity had started to take over the pink haired girl's body, as she she slowly started to descend. As she was falling, Sakura looked down toward the ground and saw the remaining fifteen copies glaring at her. And as she was staring at them, thinking who she needed to take out next, the girl's vision started to blur and a headache had suddenly begun to assault her head.

She clutched her head with her free hand and narrowed her demonic eye. _What's going on?_ she wondered in her thoughts. Was this happening because of using Amatarasu's power? It felt like her head was going to split open. Sakura lowered her hand. _It's time to end this_ was the decision she ultimately made. There was no way that she could fight for longer period of time with the splitting headache she was having. Thinking that, Sakura turned herself around and dove toward the floor, moving faster than she did before.

Landing on the ground, in a crouched position and in front of a demon clone, Sakura's head shot up, looking into the demon's pupiless gaze before she cut it down with her cross scythe. It's death cry echoed in the pinkette's ears as her weapon left another trail of black behind and when her eye began to glow again, the blackness of the flames spread like a wildfire and enveloped the demon in an instant. When the demon fell to the floor and vanished with the flames, the assault had begun again.

All the remaining demons were coming at her at once and, ignoring the pounding headache that was only getting worse by the minute, she decided meet them half way. Like last time, a demon swung it's bulging arm at the pinkette in a wide arc. Sakura dodged the attack by twisting her body around the creature so that she was now behind it, and in the process of doing that, Sakura threw her cross scythe at the demons that were now in front of her.

She watched as her black flamed weapon took out two other demons before they could do anything to counter it. The demon girl immediately ducked an incoming attack from the fiend behind her and when she turned to face her assailant, her cross scythe returned to her left hand and as soon as it did, the girl killed the demon behind her. With that out of the way, the pinkette stood up and scanned her surroundings. The demon's didn't attack her again. They were probably being cautious now, being careful as to what to do next.

She didn't have time for this. Sakura could feel her body start to ache and protest of the power that she was wielding. This was only the second time that she was using Izanami's power and she was using it for extended amount of time. She still wasn't used this power boost of hers, and to add to this, Amatarasu's power as it was called, was also weighing heavily on the girl's head. She didn't show it on her face, not wanting to give away anything to her enemy, but the pinkette was in agony.

With those thoughts in mind, using the full power of the speed boost she had gotten with Izanami's power, Sakura leapt to the closest demon that was near her. The demon looked on with surprise and before it could do anything, the pinkette cut it in to three with her cross scythe.

Ten left.

When that demon was done, she went onto the next two. This time they seemed to be ready and when the girl was in front of them, in sync with one another, their sharp nails and spider-like appendages were thrust upon her. Again, however, she vanished thanks to her speed and in the next moment, she was behind and above them. They turned to look but didn't get very far as their heads immediately left their shoulders.

Eight left. And then after that there were only seven, and then six. One by one they fell by Sakura's flame coated weapon. She wasn't giving them the time to counter attack. This had to end, now. There was now only two white skinned fiends left and Sakura could feel her power beginning to waver. The black flame on her left arm had gotten small and her weapon had begun to become slightly unstable. She knew why though. Her body was subconsciously slowly starting to shut down her power, even if she didn't want it to.

"Fuck this shit," one of the two demon's spoke, taking a step back.

What the hell do you think you're doing," the other demon said, angrily. That was most likely the original demon, and the one backing away was the clone.

"You can stay if you want!" the demon clone exclaimed. "But there's no way I'm dying, to just have some tomboy school girl!" And with those words the demon began to run away. It was heading toward the forest of trees. But it didn't get far. The moment Sakura knew where the demon was heading, she vanished from the spot. She reappeared in front of the fleeing demon, glaring at it.

"W-W-Wai-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The instant the demon opened it's mouth to speak, Sakura's cross scythe returned to it's original form and she swung it vertically, cutting right in the middle of it's body. The white fiend's body began to split open, both parts of it's split body moving away from each other, before it was combusted into black flames. And now, with that clone out of the way, there was only one left.

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she stared at the last demon. Her eyes had begun to blur once more. She knew that her time was almost up and, most likely, the next attack of any kind would be her last. Knowing that, she tightened the grip of her black flamed weapon.

"It's over for you now demon," she declared, "you've lost."

"Don't you think it's over yet girl," it replied in irritation. "Once I'm done with you, those two girls will be next." Sakura's eyes became dangerous when those words left the demon's mouth. Her reason for killing the white skinned fiend in front of her intensified.

"So for that to happen," it continued, "why don't you do me a favour? Stay still and DIE!" it roared out, leaping at the demonic girl with recklessness. Murderous intent clearly written in it's body language.

Not wanting to waste more time in this demon's presence, she also decided to leap. When they were close to each other they both swung; Sakura with her black flamed scythe, the demon with it's ruler length claws, and when the sound of contact was heard, both demons went past each other.

After that, there was only silence, the two demonic presences were stood perfectly still. However it didn't last long as Sakura's black flames that had been surrounding her arm had dissipated, along with her flame coated scythe. Her breathing had now started to get heavy, and when the demon heard that sound, it smiled.

Turning around, the demon looked at the girl with that wicked smile, thinking that it had won. But the smile vanished, however, when it saw the girl slowly turn her head, looking at the fiend with the corner of her eye, and had a smile of her own playing on her lips. It's eyes widened, like they never had before, and with reluctance, it looked down at it's own body.

It got a shock for a life time for what it saw. There wasn't one, nor two, but five trails of black flames on the demon's body. In that little time frame of when they clashed, the pinkette had struck a blow five times. Seeing that, it bared it's sharp teeth, clenching them tightly and it tightening it's hands into fists.

"Damn you..." it said under it's breath, turning it's pupiless gaze back to the girl. "DAMN YOUUUUU!" the demon roared. It's mouth split into four, and lunged itself at the girl he now hated with a vengeance.

The pinkette watched as the demon came at her like a wild animal that was backed into a corner. Using it's demonic strength in it's legs, it leapt the last couple feet that was between them. But the battle, for the demon, was unfortunately over. The girl's demonic eye flickered for the last time, and with the name "Amatarasu" leaving the girl's lips, the demon was instantly consumed in flames.

Even though it was engulfed, it still continued to charge at Sakura, not letting the pain of it's skin being ripped off stopping it. And just as the demon's sharp nail was about to touch the pinkette's face, it finally vanished, the only thing hitting the girl was the mist of smoke that had been left behind and which was drifted off in the soft wind.

It was over. The battle with the immortal demon was finally finished, and with that she had probably saved any future victims and more importantly, her friends, Hinata and Tenten.

"Hinata!" a voice cried out, drawing the demon girl's attention. She turned her emerald and demonic gaze toward the brunette who was on her knees holding an motionless girl in her arms. Tears were falling from Tenten's eyes as she held Hinata, calling out her name over and over.

 _It's not over yet_ she thought. Slowly, Sakura moved her fatigued body toward the pair of girls on the floor and when she eventually got to them, she knelt down on the ground. As Tenten was crying, Sakura was expecting the worse, but when she took a closer look at Hinata, she could see the girl was breathing was subtle. The brunette must have been worried too much to notice.

"She's going to be alright Tenten," she reassured. The brunette looked at the pinkette with watery eyes, looking at her like she grew a new head. Sakura turned her attention back on the girl that needed help. She saw the gashes on the girl's back and realized that they weren't that deep. But even that was the case, it probably still hurt like hell. Using whatever power she had left, the pinkette did the same thing she had done when the raven haired girl had been impaled by the reddish-pink demon. Sakura placed her right hand over the girl's back and her hand began to glow green and in the next moment, the wounds on Hinata's back had slowly started to close up, until their was nothing.

The green glow then faded away, and Sakura let out a sigh. All of her power had been spent up and now exhaustion was slowly starting to settle in. Hinata's eyes slowly started to open, blinked a few times and when she was awake completely, she sat up.

"What?" she spoke. "What happened?" Before she could get an answer, the girl was quickly wrapped into an embrace.

"Hinata!" Tenten cried out. "You're alright!"

"Tenten? What happened?" she asked.

The brunette released her friend but her hands remained on the girl's shoulders. "You don't remember?"

Hinata thought for a moment. "Well, the last thing I remember was you falling to the floor while we were being chased by the demon, and I pushed you out of the way from it's attack," she said. Something then clicked in her head. "Speaking of, what happened to the it?"

"It's gone," Sakura spoke up, gaining both the girl's attentions. "For good."

"I see," Hinata said. She then smiled at the pinkette. "Thank you, Sakura-chan. Thanks to you, Tenten's safe. I'm really grateful."

Sakura gave the ravenette a tired smile of her own. "Don't... worry..." she spoke. She could feel her eyes grow heavy and slowly close. "As long... as you're..."

But she never got finish what she was saying as the next thing she saw was the blackness behind her eyelids and the sound of Hinata calling out her name, before her exhaustion finally took over.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!?" Hinata called out worriedly as the pinkette suddenly slumped forward. The ravenette caught the girl in her arms and both girls began to worry. But they needn't had, as the girl had just fainted from exhaustion and she breathed out slow even breaths.

"She's asleep?" asked Tenten.

Hinata just gave a nod of confirmation. She looked at the girl resting on her with gentle eyes and a loving smile. An expression that Tenten had never seen. The ravenette had always smiled gently toward other people when she spoke, but the way she was looking at Sakura now was on another level.

The ravenette then reached a free hand out and began to stroke the girl's pink locks. Just by seeing that, Tenten's thoughts about before where right. But there was one question that still remained. Did Hinata know herself? That was something she would have to ask her, but at a later time. Right now, she didn't want to disturb the peaceful scene that she was watching right now.

As the peaceful scene continued, neither Tenten or Hinata noticed the bespectacled girl hidden behind the trees of the park, watching them. Or to be more specific, the pink haired demon girl.

* * *

 **And there we go, another chapter done with and like I said at the start, the next chapter will be final chapter for Tenten's arc (which I like to call it).** **Thanks for reading and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Anyway** **thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	17. An End to a Long Day

**Hey guys and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love and the final chapter of the Tenten arc.**

 **Before we start, just a quick word. I just want to say thank to the people who have faved and followed this story. It really means a lot to me to know there are people out there who are enjoying this story as much as I am writing it. And I'd also like the people who leave a review at the end as well.**

 **.S - I'm glad that you like the chapter. And about the mystery revolving around how Sakura got the power in the first place. That answer will be revealed in time, in later chapters in the future. At the moment, even Sakura doesn't know how she got them, but she's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.**

 **Anyway I think I've babbled on long enough. Again, thank you very much to those people who contribute to this story.**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. Anyway on with the story.**

 **I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs are mine.**

* * *

Hinata sat on the edge of her bed, her white eyes staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom in the Hyūga household.

It had been several hours since the fight against the white skinned fiend had ended in Sakura's victory. By the time she, the pinkette and Tenten had made their way to their respective homes, the last bits of sun had disappeared over the horizon, making the orange-purple glow of the sky, turn into a sea of dark blue filled with a starry sky.

Like outside, Hinata's room was also dark, but her eyes had eventually adjusted to it. The girl then closed her pools of white for a moment, before she turned her gaze to her bed. More precisely to the person that was occupying it. Sakura laid there, the covers surrounding the pinkette's body up to her neck, and was sleeping peacefully. Her chest was moving up and down for each inhale and exhale of breath she took. This was only the second time she had seen Sakura's sleeping face, the first being the first night that she stayed in her home and woke up the next day, with the girl next to her.

After that day, the pinkette had been staying in one of the guest rooms of the house and so she never got to see that serene face again. Hinata told the girl that she didn't mind sharing the same bed. But Sakura refused, but was thankful for the offer regardless.

Now, she looked upon the girl's sleeping face once more, and just like she had thought the first time she saw it, Sakura looked captivating. Thinking that, the ravenette started to remember the events of before. When she and Tenten were walking home, carrying Sakura. And... the unforgettable question her childhood friend had asked her.

* * *

 _Walking along the familiar concrete path leading to the Hyūga home, with the street lights illuminating the solid ground, lighting the way, was Hinata and Tenten, who was carry the sleeping Sakura on her back. There was silence between the two childhood friends that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, just plain old silence. It had been a long day for the both of them and for the brunette, there was a lot for her to process._

 _For a start, she now knew that the peaceful world that she had been living in so far, wasn't all that peaceful after all. While she went to school and went on with her life, there were things going on behind the scenes. And now thanks to what she had experienced, Tenten had to look at things differently. But now, she understood one thing. She understood why Sakura acted the way she did when the girl first came to her school. Cold. Distant. Fighting the demons was dangerous work, and if the pinkette would form attachments to any of her classmates, and she had been killed, the people she would have had formed bonds with would have been devastated._

 _Also, if there were demons that were smart as the white skinned demon was, and they find out that the girl had friends, they would use them against her. So in a way, Sakura had been protecting her classmates, Tenten and even Hinata from danger. Coming up with all of this, Tenten couldn't help but smile. Thanks to her revealing who she really was, the brunette could now see her in a new light._

 _Hinata noticed that her best friend was smiling and turned to look at her with confusion. "What are smiling at, Tenten?" she asked the brunette._

 _"Mmm, oh, it's nothing," she replied. "It's just that... she's amazing. Sakura that is," she admitted._

 _The ravenette was surprised those words came out of her childhood friend's mouth. Hinata smiled. Her attitude towards Sakura had completely flipped. She was extremely happy to see that Tenten had now accepted the pinkette. With that, Hinata looked back forward and the atmosphere surrounding the two friends had become much lighter, after such a long day._

 _Soon enough, Hinata's house came into view and when the trio reached the front door, the ravenette unlocked it and opened the door for Tenten. The older girl entered through the door and once inside asked the ravenette were she should put Sakura._

 _"Can you put her in my room?" she asked her and with a nod Tenten ascended the stairs._

 _As the brunette was doing that, Hinata went to the kitchen, heading toward her fridge. Opening the huge cold box, the white eyed girl reached in and grabbed a bottle of water. No doubt the younger girl would most likely be thirsty once she woke up after her long, tiring battle. Getting what she needed, Hinata closed the fridge door and headed for her bedroom._

 _Upon entering, she saw Tenten had put Sakura underneath the covers of her bed. The raven haired girl put the bottle of water on the bedside table and then stood next to the bed."Thank you Tenten," Hinata said. Tenten smiled and shook her head._

 _"Don't mention it," she replied. "After all, she's my friend too now remember?" The Hyūga girl smiled again and nodded. Tenten smiled also, but then, from the corner of her eye, she looked at ravenette's alarm clock. Her eyes widened. It was starting to get late._

 _"Ah crap," she said, placing her hand on her forehead and letting out a groan. "I'm late getting home. Mom's going to be pissed at me. And I left my stuff back school which will make her even more pissed." She then let out a sigh and looked at Hinata with an apologetic smile. "Sorry Hinata, I have to go."_

 _"It's alright Tenten," she said. "Let me walk you to the door."_

 _Both girl's exited the bedroom and descended the stairs until they both got to the door. When they both got outside, Hinata shut the door behind her and was about to walk but stopped when she nearly bumped into the brunette. "T-Tenten?!" she exclaimed. "Is everything alright?"_

 _The older girl didn't answer and she only got silence. Then, after a moment, Tenten let out a sigh, and with that, turned her body around so she was now facing the ravenette. She gave the girl a serious look, having come to a decision. "Hinata," she called her 'little sister's' name. She had decided to ask her the question that she had been wanting to ask since they were in the park. "There's something I want to ask you, and I want you to answer me honestly."_

 _Again, Hinata was taken by surprise by the seriousness her friend had become all of a sudden. But she gave the older girl a nod anyway. She wanted to know why the brunette had become like this. "S-Sure."_

 _Now that it had come to this, Tenten lowered her eyes, closed them and took a breath. It was time for the moment of truth. Opening them again, her grey pools met Hinata's white ones and asked the question that she wanted to ask._

 _"Are you in love with Sakura?"_

 _"...Huh?"_

 _Hinata couldn't help her eyes from growing wide. Was Tenten asking what Hinata was thinking she was asking? "W-What sort of joke is that Tenten?" The younger girl let out a nervous laughter, trying to go along with the joke, but that instantly faded away. With just one look on the girl's face, the white eyed girl knew that the older girl was being completely serious, and she knew Tenten would never joke when she was like this._

 _And since she now knew that it wasn't a joke, Hinata repated the girl's words in her head again, and as she did her heart had begun to beat faster and her cheeks took on a crimson hue. Thankfully it was dark out so it camouflaged it. "I... I..."_

 _Seeing both conflict and confusion growing in turmoil in the girl's head, Tenten decided to speak up. "It's alright Hinata, you don't have to answer me right now," she reassured. Hinata looked at the brunette with a guilty gaze. Apologizing with her eyes that she couldn't give her answer. "Just give it some thought... Okay?"_

 _The raven haired girl just gave a nod and with Tenten giving the girl a small smile, she turned on her heel and left. Hinata stared at the girl's back until she had disappeared from view._

* * *

Even long after Tenten left, Hinata kept repeating the question over and over in her head.

 _"Are you in love with Sakura?"_

Hinata couldn't understand what Tenten had meant by that. Love. The ravenette had never been in a relationship before, so she didn't know what it felt like. But even though she never felt it, she had seen it before from TV, anime. She's even seen it when she's out doing her part time job or when she's out to get groceries. Men and women holding hands. Holding each other in a loving embrace. And, once every often, she would see the couples kiss. Whenever she would see that, Hinata would immediately blush and look away, and would carry on with whatever she was doing before hand.

"Mmmm"

The sound of someone stirring brought Hinata back from her thoughts and looked towards the bed. Sakura's slowly begun to open. It looked like it took a lot to do that simple thing, and even then, she only opened them half way. The pinkette's emerald and demonic pools looked at the ravenette. "Hi...nata...?"

"Shhh, it's alright Sakura," Hinata cooed, her eyes kind and smile gentle. "Everything's fine. Go back to sleep, okay."

"...'kay," the girl whispered back and just like that, her heavy eyelids drooped close and her breaths became even once more as she went back into the land of dreams.

When she did go back to sleep, Hinata's gaze continued to linger at the pinkette. Again, she was captivated by the sight. The word 'beautiful' couldn't even describe what she was seeing in front of her eyes. The girl's chest began to grow warm and as she stared, the pink haired girl moved her head slightly to the side, causing her bangs to fall on her face. Reaching out with her hand, Hinata brushed the pink locks of hair out of Sakura's face and behind her ear, revealing her cute face once more.

Looking down upon the girl, Hinata's heart had started to pound in her chest, and loudly in her ears. And then, without even thinking about what she was doing, as if her body moved on it's own, Hinata leant down and pressed her lips on the girl's forehead. She let her lips linger for a moment longer before she moved away.

But that was when the realization of her actions kicked in. Her eyes widened in horror and she shot a hand over her mouth. _W-What did I-?!_ Before she could finish that thought, a series of images flooded the ravenette's mind. Images of Sakura. She remembered her laughter, as the pinkette had rescued a cat that had been stuck on the tree and had been licked on the face in gratitude. The next image was when Sakura had saved her from reddish-pink demon and had awoken her new power.

Hinata could still feel the strong arm that had wrapped around for support and the first time ever that she had willingly shown her gentle smile and kind eyes. Then, the image switched to the day after that, when she saw Sakura was sleeping next to her and Hinata decided to stay in bed a little longer. She remembered the warmth of her body against hers and it felt nice and... right. Then it was the incident at the nurses office; how close their faces were at the time.

The final image was when Sakura held Hinata's hand as they walk through the corridors of their school, heading towards the gym. She had done to help the older girl with anxiety, and deep down, Hinata was happy. And now, with all those memories coming to the front of her mind, Hinata had begun to blush profusely, her heart now hammering away in her chest, uncontrollably.

 _Don't tell me_ she thought to herself. _Am I... in love with Sakura-chan..._

She didn't know what love was. She had never experienced it before. But if her face burning like the sun and her heart beating like a jackhammer, were the symptoms for it, then could have only meant that it was love.

Hinata was in love. She was in love with Haruno Sakura. For some, falling in love would whelm a person in happiness. But for the ravenette it was different.

It terrified her.

* * *

"Papa, I'm bored," complained Himiko, as she sat on the arm of the throne's chair, rocking her feet back and forth in the air. "It's completely dull here. When can we go back to the human invested world?"

Uchiha Sasuke, leaning on his fist, on the other arm of his throne chair, smiled at his daughter's complaints. He understood what she was going through though. After all, the onyx haired man had ordered his children to not set foot in the human realm. Not yet anyway.

"Patience, Himiko," he told her. The cat-like girl turned to look at her father. He turned his yellow-golden gaze to look at the girl. "Everything will happen in due time. And once it does," he continued, the king of the demons reaching out with his free hand and gently grasped the girl's jaw, "you can have all the fun that you want then."

"Really?" she asked in a childish tone.

"Really."

Himiko was quiet for a moment, the bob cut haired girl staring into her father's eyes. She was checking to make sure that he was telling the truth or not, and when she saw no deceit in his gaze, the demon girl smiled happily. "Okay!" she cried, and then quickly grasped Sasuke's hand. She proceeded to stick his first and middle finger into her mouth and sucked down on them. A crimson hue had started to form on the girl's cheeks as she did and Sasuke just smiled.

Not long after that she started to do that did the onyx haired man notice black petals swirl around in a spot, in the middle of the room. From within those petals, someone was knelt down on one knee, and when they dispersed, that person was his other daughter, Sarada.

"Father," the onyx haired girl called out, looking up. She noticed Himiko was with him, her face flushed red as she sucked on her father's fingers, obviously getting a kick out of it. Ignoring the scene the cat-like girl was displaying, Sarada bowed her head again, showing respect to her lord and father. "I've come bearing news about Haruno Sakura," she told him and then started to recount the events of what she saw.

She told him on how the pinkette was up against a demon who was able to copy itself every time it got one of it's limbs taken off, and was backed into a corner. She then told him how the demon girl was able to turn it around and win by suddenly awakening to a new power, killing all the demons with black flames. Once Sarada had finished explaining the events, she remained quiet, her head still bowed down, waiting for a reply from her father.

"...And?"

Sarada's eyes widened from that one word. She looked up to meet her father's gaze, but when she did, she instantly wished that she hadn't. Her onyx coloured eyes looked into Sasuke's visible demonic eye and at that moment, the girl felt like she was a mouse being eyed up by a hawk, waiting for the inevitable of being eating. A chill went down her spine and her mouth had suddenly become dry, as the king of the demons narrowed his eye in irritation.

Getting past the lump that had suddenly lodged itself's into her throat, the younger of the demon king's children spoke. "A-And...?"

"What...? Don't tell me that was all you came to inform me on?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eye some more. He removed his fingers from Himiko's mouth, the cat-like girl groaning in displeasure, before he stood up. Himiko pouted for a second, before she sent a glare in Sarada's direction. But the girl didn't register the glare as she was too scared to care.

All of a sudden, a hand had grasped her throat and the next thing she knew was that she hanging in the air, her feet leaving the ground. She didn't know when, but her father had closed the distance between them and was now choking the younger girl. Himiko, forgetting her sour mood, had begun to clap at the spectacle that was happening now, cheering.

"How disappointing, Sarada," he said in a monotone voice. His demonic eye showing how pissed off he was. "And I had such high hopes for you." The young man's grip on his daughter's throat tightened, causing it's owner's face to show a pained expression. Sasuke didn't care about the demon that had battled with the pink haired girl. He already knew about the girl's new awakened power as he could feel it like he was there himself. So in basic terms, Sarada's report in the human realm was completely useless.

The onyx haired girl gripped her father's arm as the fingers that were wrapped around her neck closed even tighter, her eyes slowly growing heavy from the lack of oxygen. Just as the girl was about to lose consciousness, a hand had suddenly grabbed the demon king's arm. When he looked at who would dare touch him, his cold eye's met the amber eyes of his oldest daughter, Konan. The girl's face was neutral, masking all expression, but her deadly gaze and the tightness of her grip were a different story all together.

"That's enough father," she said, her voice neutral just like her face. "Release her."

Sasuke kept his gaze on the blue haired girl for a moment longer before he turned his attention back on the girl in his grasp. With a smirk gracing his lips, he released his captive and Sarada fell to the floor, grasping her throat, sucking in some much needed air and began to have a coughing fit. Konan released her father's arm instantly and knelt down to Sarada's side.

Turning a blind eye to his daughter on the floor, the onyx haired man was about to make his way back to his seat, but stopped before he did. "Tell me Sarada," he called to his disappointment of a daughter. "What caused her to awaken her new power?"

The king of demons knew that there was no way Haruno Sakura was capable doing such a feat on her own. There had to have been a catalyst. A reason to make the girl's power awaken the way it did.

"A girl," was Sarada's response, after she had calmed down enough to speak. "A girl, with raven hair and white eyes, was struck by the demon she was battling against. Her name was... Hinata."

 _Hinata, huh..._ Sasuke smiled when he heard that and finally made his way back to his seat. "You may go," Sasuke commanded.

Sarada gave a weak nod, and slowly stood up with the help of older sister. When she was up straight, she shrugged off Konan's helping hands and made her way to the large double doors at the far end of the room. The spectacle eyed girl could feel her eyes begin to water, but she pushed them back. She couldn't afford to look even more weak than she already was. And with that thought, she opened the heavy doors and passed through them, shutting behind her.

 _Sarada..._ Konan called to the younger girl in her thoughts, her amber eyes showing sympathy. But that was quickly replaced with anger as she looked at the king of demons, Uchiha Sasuke, who seemed to be deep in thought. Obviously thinking about his future plans with the little information he just received.

 _Sakura-chan..._

* * *

It was late at night in the red light district at Konohagakure, and it was surprisingly quiet. However, the silence was inturrupted by the sound of heels, moving fast against the concrete.

A pink haired woman was running. Running for her life. She was being chased by a cloaked figure who had been waiting for her as soon as she left the building of her last customer. With her wild breathing, the woman risked a look behind her. She saw the cloak figure gaining up on her and seeing that, she turned her head back round and used all of her remaining stamina to speed up.

There was an alley not far off from were she was, and with not much options left, she took the chance and went down it. She pressed her back against the cold hard brick wall and clasped both of her hands over her mouth. She could hear the footsteps of her persurer getting closer and closer. When the footsteps came closer to her position, the woman held her breath and closed her eyes, wishing not be found. And as if her wish was granted, the person chasing her ran past the alley she went down at.

She could hear the running footsteps moving further and further away, and when they were gone, the pink haired woman let out a sigh of relief. Thinking that it was safe, she poked her head out of the alley's entrance. She looked left and then right, and saw nothing but street lights.

"It looks like they're go-"

Before she could finish that sentence, something had grasped her shoulder from behind and threw her further into the alley. She let out a cry for when she hit the ground and when she looked up, her eyes widened and her skin grew pale. Standing in front of her was the cloaked figure that had been chasing her, and she was now terrified. How did this person get behind her so fast?!

"P-Please, don't hurt me!" she pleaded. The person also wore a hood with the cloak, so she couldn't see her assaliant's face. There was only silence after the woman begged for her life, and even though she couldn't see the strangers face, she had a feeling that they were glaring at her.

"Yamanaka Yukiko," the stranger said a name. The voice that spoke was female, and young at that. But even knowing that the person in front of her was a girl didn't take the terror away.

"W-Who?" the woman replied with another question. "I-I don't k-know anyone by t-that name!"

"Really?" the cloaked girl spoke. "On the day that Yamanaka Yukiko died, there was a witness that said that they saw a girl with pink hair with her. So tell me, Why I should believe a demon like you?"

The woman's eyes grew even wider in fear. How on earth did this girl know that she was a demon? The woman had been so careful to not attract to much attention herself. She was about to tell this stranger that she wasn't a demon and play it off as a joke, saying that they didn't exist. But the pink haired woman noticed the stranger was reaching for something in her cloak. Her heart pratically stopped when she saw hooded girl pulled out a sword.

"W-W-Wait!" the woman cried. "Y-You're right! I am a demon, but I'm just a harmless Succubus! I'm no threat! I didn't want stay in the demon realm a moment longer and somehow managed to escape here!" Tears had started to pour out from her eyes as she was explaining her situation. "Please! I didn't come here for wicked intentions! I just wanted to live like a normal human!

"I-I'm sorry for what happened to this Yukiko girl, she must have been really important to you," she continued. "But I've never heard of her before in my life! So please don't kill me!" The woman began to sob quietly, as she had finally said all of what she wanted to say. She waited, and then she waited. When the cloaked girl did answer, it felt like an eternity.

"I believe you," were the words that she said. And with those words, the demon felt relief, and looked up to thank the person for understanding. But it was short lived. The girl had raised her arm up, her sword in the air. Again, terror had assaulted her body.

"W-What are you doing?" she asked. "I thought you believed me?!"

"I do," the girl replied. "But you're still a demon. And in my profession, that means that you are a threat."

The dam had been broken as the tears started to flood down the demon woman's cheeks. And then, the stranger swung down her sword, cutting the demon from her shoulder to her hip in a diagonal arc. The strike was deep and the woman let out a gasp, before she fell back, a pool of blood beginning to form behind her.

The stranger walked up to the dying demon and looked down at her, or _it_ in her case. Her eyes showed a mixture of fear and pain, but in the next minute they showed nothing. The light in them had vanished and now the demon below the cloaked girl's feet was nothing more than a corpse, that would soon turn into mist soon enough.

The stranger swung her sword to the side, getting any blood off from it and placed it back in the sheath that was hidden beneath her cloak. The girl then looked up towards the sky, towards the giant moon, the girl, Yamanaka Yukiko, filling her thoughts.

Ignoring the body, the stranger turned on her heel and walked further into the alley and disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

 **And there we have, the conclusion to Tenten's arc. The next few chapters will revolve around this new character that will appear soon. Will she friend or foe? Only the next chapter will tell. I was contemplating whether or not if I should have Hinata realize her feelings for Sakura, but I think 17 chapters in is an alright time to do so.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Anyway** **thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	18. Enter the Demon Hunter!

**Hey and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love and new arc. Just want to say sorry for delay. I was doing my one-shot and plus real life hasn't been doing me good. But hopefully things will lighten up soon.**

 **Also, when you read this, there will be a sentence that says "a spark flashed through her head." If you don't know that means, it's when, in anime, you'll see a close up of a character and the background will turn a different colour or go black and a spark would strike through the characters head. So when I mention anything in that way, that's what it will mean.**

 **Anyway, enough of my babbling and on with the story. I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing.**

 **I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs are mine.**

* * *

"Alright everyone, you can put your pencils down, the test has finished."

Hearing those words coming out of the laid back Hatake Kakashi's mouth, the students, of classroom 2-B, let out a huge sigh of relief. It was now Wednesday, the final day of the summer exams before summer vacation, which would start next week. With an order from Kakashi, the girl's at the back of the class gave their test paper to the person in front of them, and that person then did the same to their's and the other girl's paper to the person in front of them and so on.

The white haired man collected the test papers from the girl's at the front, and stacked them together. When that was all done, the teacher closed his eye and smiled behind his mask. "Well then everyone," the one eyed man started. He looked at the clock that was above his desk to confirm the time. "It looks like lunch will be starting soon." He then faced his students. "So I want you guys to stay here until the bell chimes, okay?"

All the girl's gave a nod to their teacher, who in turn gave a nod back. And with a "Good work" from Kakashi, the white haired man left his classroom and headed for the faculty office. The girl's waited until they couldn't hear their teachers footsteps and when they disappeared, all the girl's began to talk to one another.

"Thank god!" Tenten cried out, the upper half of her body flopping on the table. "It's over."

The brunette felt exhausted. It had only been a couple of days since she had been attacked by the white skinned demon, and was saved by Sakura. The good side was that she didn't die, and she and the pinkette were now friends. The bad side was that it didn't stop her from the exams and studying for them.

"Good work Tenten," Hinata said with a smile.

"Thanks," continued Tenten. "I'm just so glad the exams are over."

"But they're not over yet," Sakura added. Tenten felt like she had just pierced by an arrow. "There should be another one after lunch, shouldn't there?"

"A GIRL CAN DREAM CAN'T SHE!" the brunette cried out, glaring at the pink haired girl as water was beginning to gather up in her eyes. Sakura just cocked her head to the side wondering what was making the girl tear up, and Hinata let out a nervous laugh. Even though the two were now friends, the pair still had there moments.

"Hey everyone, come and look at this!"

Everybody that was in the classroom, including the trio, looked at the girl who shouted, and then, like they were all in sync, all the girls went towards the window. Outside, they all saw two girls standing on the path, next to the school's trees. By the looks of the colour of their uniform's bow, and the slight height difference, one girl was a first year and another was a third year.

"Hey look, in the third year's hand! Isn't that..." When Hinata, Tenten and Sakura looked closer, they noticed the older girl was holding something in her left hand and from the looks of it, it looked like an envelope. Which probably meant only one thing.

"Is this... a confession!" one of the other girl's exclaimed out loud, causing the rest to squeal. They soon settled down, however, and continued to watch, anticipation clearly written on each of the individual's faces.

The first and third year began to talk. The older girl lifted the hand that held the envelope, most likely asking the younger girl if she was the one that had put it in, most likely, her shoe locker. The first year began to blush crimson and gave a nod, admitting that she did. The girl began to talk more, and even though the girls couldn't read lips, they could tell what the girl was saying.

She was most likely saying how much she had been in love with the third year, but she was too afraid to admit it until now. The third year girl was just standing there, surprise written all over her face. And then, after the girl confessed everything, she said the older girl's name and spoke those three words that everyone could easily read on the younger girl's lips.

'I love you.'

Hinata's chest tightened from those words, while the rest of the girls, besides Tenten and Sakura, squealed once again from the sudden declaration. They then all waited with baited breath, wondering what was going to happen next. The third year girl looked at her underclassman for a while, her brain trying to process what the girl had said. Then, the older girl put the love letter in her pocket and slowly made her way towards the smaller girl. When the first year realized this, she looked down and closed her eyes tightly.

When the older girl was in front of the younger, she reached out and cupped the first year's cheek. The girl's eyes widened at that action and looked back to her upperclassman. She tried to call out the older girl's name but she couldn't do that as the third year leant her head forward and pressed her lips onto the younger girl's.

The first year was surprised, not expecting this, but then she closed her eyes, placed both her hands on the older girl's chest and kissed back, enjoying the moment. For the third time, the girls of class 2-B squealed as they watched the two girls, now lovers, kissing one another. There were comments like, "I'm so happy for them," or "So cute!" and many similar things were coming out of their mouths and while that was happening, Sakura looked at the two girl's that were kissing, confusion clearly written on her face.

One of the her classmate noticed this and spoke up. "Are you alright Haruno-san?" The pinkette didn't reply, too lost in her own thoughts. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her one eye at the couple. "Haruno-san?" the girl called out once again.

"That's it!" Sakura said loudly, causing all the girls to turn their gaze on her. She made a fist with one hand and tapped it against her open palm of her other hand, coming to a realization. "That third year is actually a boy in a girl's uniform!" The entire classroom shook, like an earthquake had just hit, as everyone nearly fell over from what the girl had just said.

"THEY'RE BOTH GIRLS!" they all shouted at the pink haired girl in unison.

"Really?" was what Sakura responded with and then, all the girls began to berate her on how bad it is mistaking a girl for boy.

Tenten watched her pink haired friend get scolded for a moment before she let out a sigh. "She's an idiot," the twin bunned girl said. The girl may be an expert at demon killing, but when it came to normal life, she didn't have a clue. She then turned to face her childhood friend. "Don't you agree Hina-" But she stopped when she saw the look that was on Hinata's face. The girl's white eyes were clued onto Sakura and the brunette could see the sadness in them.

 _Hinata..._ she called in her thoughts. It pained her to see the girl she calls a sister look like this. It was taking all she had to not go over to her and hug her there and then. The only reason she wasn't doing that now was because she would remember what happened on the rooftop of the school, the day after the white skinned fiend had attacked Tenten.

* * *

 _It was now lunch at Konoha High, the next day after the battle with the demon, and Hinata and Tenten, were eating lunch on the rooftop, sitting on the blanket that the ravenette had brought with her. Sakura had been with them, but she excused herself to go and get a drink from one of the vending machines and now it was just the pair of girls. There was a silence between them as they ate their lunch, the sound of the other girls that were eating on the roof being the only noise._

 _"You were right Tenten," Hinata spoke up, breaking the silence. Tenten didn't need to ask what the girl was talking about, but she had to admit, she was surprised that the girl would bring it up now._

 _"I see," she replied. "So, when are you going to tell her?" Hinata closed her eyes, a sad smile forming on her face. She then shook her head side to side._

 _"I'm not."_

 _"You're... not? Why?" she asked sounding confused. Tenten had never been in love before, but even she knew that if you liked somebody you would tell them. "It's not because she's a girl is it. Or because," she lowered her voice so that none of the other girls could hear, "that she's a demon?"_

 _Again, the Hyūga girl shook her head. "The fact that she's a girl doesn't bother me, and knowing the fact that she's demon doesn't either." The ravenette then opened her eyes and stared at the boxed lunch that was in her lap, virtually untouched. "It's because I'm scared."_

 _"Scared?" the brunette repeated, getting confused even more._

 _Hinata gave a nod. "I've never had these feelings before," she continued. "It's only been half a day, and I'm already seeing her differently. When I'm near her, my heart beats faster and I get butterflies in my stomach. I try my best to act normal, and it's worked so far."_

 _"But you know that won't work forever. She's bound to notice something sooner or later."_

 _"I know," Hinata spoke, her fingers, that were wrapped around the box lunched, tightened. "But I have to keep it up for as long as I can." Her fingers then began to relax a little. "Besides, we've only recently became friends, so it's too soon. It may only be a crush and it will eventually go away."_

 _Just as she had finished speaking, the sound of the metal door to the rooftop was heard causing both girls to look in that direction. It was Sakura, and she had three cans in her hands as she started to make her way towards the pair of girls._

 _"So that's why I won't tell her about these feelings, and we'll just stay the way we are."_

 _"But..." Tenten was about to speak up, but it was too late. Sakura had returned to their sides and the conversation ceased to be. And like she had told Tenten, Hinata had continued to talk to Sakura like nothing ever happened. But, thanks to the conversation that they just had, even though she was speaking normally, the brunette could easily tell that the younger girl looked pained for each word she spoke, and Tenten felt completely useless at that point._

* * *

 _Hinata..._

She had said that it was just a crush and it would go away. But Tenten didn't believe that for a second. From her point of view, it looked like the feelings she had were only building up and seeing spectacle of the two girls out side probably didn't help matters either. But unfortunately for the brunette she couldn't do anything. All she could do was respect Hinata's choice and watch on.

 _... you're an idiot._

 _DING DONG DING DONG..._

The sound of the bell, indicating that it was now lunch, rang through the entire school. The girls that had be been scolding Sakura had now finished, and either left for the cafeteria or went to get their boxed lunches and eat out or inside the classroom. Once they left, Sakura looked exhausted and slowly made her way towards Hinata and Tenten. Upon seeing this, Hinata flipped a switch in her head and forced herself to smile. Likewise, Tenten did the same thing and they both approached pink haired girl.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

There was a long pause. Then finally, she spoke, a shiver running down her spine as she did.

"Girls are scary."

* * *

"FREEDOM!" Tenten cried out loud, raising her arms high into the air, as she took her first steps out of Konoha High's main entrance to the building. Some of the other girls that were also exiting the school gave the brunette a weird look, but at the moment she didn't care. The summer exams were finally over!

"Is summer vacation that important?" Sakura asked as she and Hinata finished replacing their slipper-like shoes with their other footwear. The younger out of the two girls couldn't understand why the brown haired girl would make a huge fuss over a month off from school. For Sakura, when she came to the human realm, her summers were only consisted of her killing demons and when she started school, hanging around with Yukiko.

Tenten turned on her heel, placed her hands on her hips and glared at the pinkette again. "Of course it is!" she exclaimed. "Summer is a thirty-one day, school free month! It's the time to wear swim suits and go to the beach! To smash open watermelons! Tests of courage!" For each thing Tenten listed off, she lifted a finger from one of her hands, a huge smile on her face as she did. "Even wearing a yukata for the summer festival that happens during the last few days of summer!"

The girl then turned around again, clenching her hands into fists, before she fist bumped them into the air. "Next week can't come any sooner!"

"But if I remember correctly," Sakura spoke up, interrupting the brunette's moment of excitement. "Don't we get homework over the summer?"

As soon as the pinkette mentioned the word 'homework', Tenten suddenly felt a heavy weight hit her body.

"Now that you mention it," Hinata chimed in. "You're right. There's also the fact that if you fail more than three subjects during the exam, they have you come to school over the summer and do make-up exams for those subjects."

Hinata dealt the final blow and an even heavier weight had been added onto Tenten body, a cold sweat cascading down her back. She quickly turned back to face her friends. "N-Nevermind the details!" she said with a nervous voice. "Let's just celebrate the fact the exams are finally over, okay? And to do that, let's go to Rāmen Ichiraku's, my treat!"

The ravenette smiled and gave a nod, following along with her best friend. "Sure, I don't mind," she said, turning to the pinkette. "What do you think Sakura-chan?"

"I don't mind," Sakura replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Great!" Tenten shouted happily. "Then, without further delay, let's go!" And with that announcement, the twin bunned girl turned on her heel and began to leave. Sakura and Hinata both looked at one another and smiled, before they both decided to follow their tomboyish friend.

But unfortunately, for Sakura, it was never that easy.

After she took a couple of steps, a spark flashed through her head and she stopped on the spot, narrowing her emerald coloured eye. _Demons..._ she thought. She could sense multiple demons further into the city, one massive demonic presence, and a two weaker ones. The weak ones she had no concern about, but the huge one meant only trouble.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked as she noticed the girl had stopped moving. Tenten stopped also, twisting her head to look back.

"A demon," the pinkette told her. "It's somewhere in the city."

"Do you need us to do anything?" Tenten offered, even though she knew that it was a stupid question to ask. She knew that she would only get in the way, but she didn't want to be as useless like she was when she encountered the white skinned demon. Sakura, however, didn't berate her in telling her that it was a stupid thing to ask. Instead, she gave the brunette a small smile.

"It's alright," she told the pair, taking her school bag of her shoulder and handing it to Hinata. "Why don't you guys head off to Rāmen Ichiraku's, I'll join you later." Both girls gave a nod, as the ravenette accepted the bag, and Sakura ran off towards the school's entrance. As the girl got further away, Hinata suddenly felt dread creep up on her.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata cried out. She didn't know why she did, but it happened anyway. Ever since the ravenette started to have these feelings for the pinkette, Hinata had slowly become even more worried for the pink haired demon's safety. Worried that if she went out to fight alone, that she wouldn't come back. Sakura paused in her running, and turned to look at the Hyūga girl, waiting on what she was going to say. "Be careful, okay?"

The pinkette was confused for a moment but her expression quickly changed as she gave the girl a reassuring smile. And with a final nod, Sakura turned back on her heel and left the school grounds.

When she was gone from sight, Tenten turned to look from were Sakura had gone to Hinata, and again she saw that expression on the girl's face. The sadness in her eyes as she watched her friend go to fight a demon alone. The sight made her chest grow tight. The brunette then mentally slapped herself. Now wasn't the time to watch from the side lines when her friend was in trouble and so thinking that, Tenten made her way to the worried younger girl.

"Come on Hinata!" she said, grasping the girl's free hand.

"Tenten...?" the ravenette called. "But..."

"Sakura will be fine," she told her, not having any of it. "You believe in her, right?"

The girl's white eyes widened a fraction, realising her mistake. _She's right_ she thought. Sakura had been in worst situations before. Like fighting the reddish-pink demon, even though she was out matched, and coming out on top. Even fighting the immortal demon, only to over come it as well. So, if this demon that Sakura was going to face was just another ordinary demon she would normally go against, then she had nothing to fear.

"You're right," Hinata spoke, the worried look long forgotten about. "I do believe in her."

Tenten gave her 'little sister' a big grin. "Good! Now then let's go!"

And with that, the brunette dragged her childhood friend away from the school grounds and into the city, heading for their original destination.

* * *

Sakura's hair danced as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the city of Konohagakure. It was still bright out, so the pinkette had to be careful not to be seen, but swift so she could get to the demon before it could cause unnecessary trouble.

As she landed onto another roof, and was about take off again, a spark flashed through her head again, causing the girl's emerald eye to widen before she skidded to a halt. _What's going on?_ Sakura's eye then narrowed. The creature that she had been sensing with the massive demonic energy, had suddenly vanished. It disappeared without a trace, like it was never there to begin with.

The pinkette found it strange. There could only be two ways that it would just disappear like it did. The first was that it hid it's presence. If it was anything like the reddish-pink demon, and the white skinned fiend, then she was dealing with another deadly foe and killing it would not be an easy feat.

The other reason would be that it was killed, which Sakura found even more strange. She knew the demons rarely killed each other, and as far as she knew, besides her, there should be no one else that could kill a demon. But then again, she never felt the need to find out.

 _I'm not going to find out just standing here_ she thought and then carried on jumping on the next rooftop.

Thankfully, due to her demonic speed, it didn't take the pinkette long to arrive were she had felt the demonic presence before it disappeared. It had taken her to an alleyway and when she got there, the demon girl looked down from her vantage point from the rooftop she was currently on. Sakura narrowed her emerald gaze from what she was seeing. In the alley, were four people. A man, a woman, a small boy that couldn't have been more than six years old and a hooded cloaked figure.

The woman, no doubt that it was the mother, was holding onto the child like her life depended on it, protecting him. And the man, the father, had his arms wrapped around his family, protecting them. From what she sensed, Sakura knew that the father was the demon, hiding in it's human form, but he was too weak to doing anything bad and she couldn't sense anything from the woman, which meant the mother was human. And the child, the boy, was similar to pink haired girl, half human and half demon. But from what she can sense, the boy's human side was more dominate. In basic terms, the man and child were no threat at all.

The only real threat was the cloaked figure that was towering over the terrified family.

The hooded cloak, the person underneath it wore, was only short, just going past their elbows, leaving anything from their stomach down exposed. Sakura noticed that they were wearing a familiar blue, pleated skirt, tight black shorts underneath the skirt, white socks that went just under her knees and black trainers with white strips on the side. She also saw the person had a sword in hand. The cloaked figure, going by the clothes, was no doubt a girl. Was the cloaked girl the reason for the sudden disappearence of the demonic presence?

"P-Please don't hurt us!" the man pleaded, the look of terror clear in his eyes. "You saved us from that monster, so why are you attacking us?!"

 _Well that answers that question_ Sakura thought.

"I'm pretty sure you know why demon," the cloaked girl said, making the man's eyes widen in even more fear. He was about to protest but the mystery girl interrupted him. "Save it, I know who you are. You may look human but you can't hide the demon blood that's flowing in your veins. And in his." Using her sword, the girl pointed at the boy that was being held in his mother's arms.

"No!" the mother screamed. "Please don't hurt him!"

"Please I'm begging you," the man spoke up again. "You're right, I'm a demon, so please," the father released his hold on his wife and son and stood up, "kill me and let my family go."

"Darling!" the woman cried, tears beginning to pool in her eyes, as she listened to what her demon husband had said.

"It's alright," he said calmly, cupping the woman's cheek and using his thumb to wipe away the tears. "You've done a lot for me. You've loved me for all this time, even after I told you who I really am. And you also gave me the greatest gift of all, our son. And I can never thank you enough." He then stroked the boys head, earning a "Daddy" in response. The demon man then took in a deep breath and turned to face the person that would be his demise.

"I'll admit, those are noble intentions, for a demon..." the cloaked girl said. A flicker of hope came upon both the parents' faces. But that hope was soon taken away with what the girl said next. "But I don't make promises to any of your kind. And once your finished with, I'll end that abomination of a child's life as well."

"W-What?!" the man let out, his eyes widening. "But he's just a boy! He doesn't know any better!"

"It doesn't matter," again she interrupted. "He could be a threat in the future. And I won't risk the rest of humanity for one boy." The cloaked girl then raised her sharp metal weapon, high into the air. "Now. Go back to where you come from, in hell!" And she swung down the sword upon the demon in front of her.

Seeing what was about to happen, and more of the fact that she had enough, Sakura jumped down from her vantage point. Her scythe materialized from black flames in front of her palm, grasping the polearm tight, and when she landed in between the cloaked girl and the demon man, she blocked the attack, sparks flying from the contact, both weapons locked with one another.

"W-What?!" the girl cried out in surprise, not expecting these turn of events.

"Run!" Sakura shouted to the family behind her, not breaking eye contact. "Get out of here!"

"W-Who are-?" the man began, but stopped when the pinkette risked looking away from her foe and glared at the man who didn't listen the first time.

"I said run!" she shouted once more. "NOW!"

The man, not willing to risk his saviour's wrath, gave Sakura a nod and went back to his family. He helped his wife up, the child still cradled in her arms and they both ran out of the alleyway, but not without giving the pink haired demon girl their heartfelt gratitude. When they were finally gone, Sakura could now pour all of her attention on the person before her.

"You idiot!" the cloaked girl said. The pinkette could practically feel the nasty glare coming from her hooded foe. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! Who they were?!"

"Yeah I knew," Sakura replied. "But I also knew that those demons were harmless."

"You... If you really think that," the mystery girl spoke, slowly pushing her blade against Sakura's scythe. "Then you have no right to be a part of the demon hunter clan."

 _Demon hunter?_ the pinkette wondered. But before she could voice out her thought, the girl pushed the scythe wielding girl back, causing her to stagger. Not wasting a moment, the cloaked girl swung her blade in a horizontal arc and followed it up with diagonal slash. Sakura parried the strike, dodged the slash but she didn't see the kick that had followed straight after. The girl's kick had landed in the pit of Sakura's stomach and forced the girl to skid backwards, stopping a few feet away from were she was originally.

 _So strong!_ The pinkette gritted her teeth and glared at the girl. She could practically see the smile beneath that hood of hers and that irked the pinkette. But before she could retaliate, the cloaked girl jumped onto wall next to her and when her feet it the surface of the wall, she jumped onto the other wall on the opposite side, and then repeated, slowly making her way up.

 _Shit!_ the girl cursed and not wanting the mystery girl to get away, Sakura throw her scythe, hoping it would hit. But didn't, just missing hooded girl and imapling itself on where she had just landed. The girl eventually made her way to the top and left the pinkette's sight. _Oh no you don't!_ Sakura, using her demonic strength, jumped up and landed on her scythe that was now sticking into the wall and using it as a spring board, jumped on top of the roof the girl had been on and ran after her.

Her opponent hadn't gotten far yet, so she still had time. Extending her arm out to the side, her scythe disappeared from the wall and materialized back into her hand and not missing a beat, leapt at the girl that was a few yards away. Mid-leap, the pinkette twisted her body and swung her scythe at the fleeing girl. Said girl turned just in time to see Sakura's attack and dove out of the way, but her cloak wasn't so fortunate. The blue tinted weapons' metal blade snagged itself on the black material and removed it from it's host.

The pinkette managed to get her feet on the ground before she had slipped of the roof and that was when she noticed the cloak that was hanging off her scythe's blade. She immediately turned around and finally saw who was underneath the hood.

Sakura now knew why the skirt looked so familiar, as the girl was wearing the exact same uniform she was. The girl was fair skinned and had long pale-blonde hair which was tied into a high ponytail, with bangs framing the right side of her face. She also had blue eyes, which were now glaring towards Sakura's direction. The pinkette had to admit, apart from the glare she was receiving and with the evening sun shining behind her, the girl looked beautiful.

The blue eyed girl closed her eyes, let out a sigh and placed her free hand on her hip. "Great, now you've seen my face," said the girl.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked getting straight to the point.

A cocky smirk grew on the fair skinned girl's lips. "That's for me to know and to you to find out," she replied. "But you won't find out tonight." Sakura cocked an eyebrow, wondering what the girl meant. When the blonde haired girl took a step back, she got the idea.

"Wait!" the girl shouted. But it fell on deaf ears as the girl spread her arms out to the side and took another step back. There was nothing behind her and the next thing Sakura knew was the girl fell backwards, leaving the pinette's sight.

The pinkette rushed forward and looked over the edge, expecting to see the girl falling to her death. But there was nothing, not even a body on the pavement on the streets down below. She had disappeared. But even though she was gone, Sakura had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

She was going to meet that girl soon. Very soon.

* * *

 **And there we go. You probably know by now who the hooded figure is and which means this new arc of Demonic Love will revolve around her.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Anyway** **thanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	19. The Demon Hunter's Identity Revealed

**Hey everyone and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. I'm really sorry for the late update. Real life things been happening, and there was also Christmas and New Years. And the worst, writers block. I was having trouble writing this chapter and so it might not be as good as the others but I hope you enjoy reading it regardless.**

 **Also, I would like to give thanks to these people for the following reasons:**

 **-ncread (Favouriting Story)  
-WithoutAnimeLifeIsShitty ****(Favouriting Story)  
-Wings of Lightning (Following Story)  
-Balalalaika (Following & Favouriting Story)  
-Tolitir (Favouriting me and story and Following me and story)  
-gundam 09 (Following me)**

 **Now for the review part.**

 **-CaptainJack.S - First off, sorry for making your name slightly longer and missing out the full stop. This site doesn't like me using your shortened version of your name and always ends up as .S (T_T;) Secondly, for the first part of the review, I'm glad that I was able to surprise you (if I did anyway) and for the second part, I'm very sorry to hear that, but, you never know, things could happen.**

 **-KitsuneGirl1994 - I'm glad that you found the last chapter awesome and intense. All I can say to you is you'll have to wait and see. I will say this, not everything is what it seems.**

 **Anyway, enough from me. I hope you enjoy!**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

"And that's what happened."

Was what Sakura said, finishing her recollection of the events from her fight against the mysterious blonde haired demon hunter. The pinkette reached over for her green tea, once she was done talking, and took a sip, the warmth of the liquid going down her throat and spreading out her entire body. It had been an hour since she fought the blonde haired girl and now she was in Rāmen Ichiraku's, sitting down in one of the booths with Hinata, who was sitting on her right, and Tenten, who was sitting on the opposite side of the two.

"That's incredible," Tenten said in awe. The brunette had seen first hand at what the pink haired girl was like during at fight, how strong she was. To find out that someone else was capable of pushing the younger girl back, Tenten couldn't help but be amazed.

"Were you hurt, Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked in a concerned voice, a worried look to match. The pinkette noticed it and placed her cup back down, smiling.

"I'm fine," she reassured. But that was a lie. Even after an hour, the pinkette could still feel the pain coming from were she had been kicked by the mysterious girl. So, not wanting to give it away, the pinkette decided to look back at the cup that was in her hand, her face becoming serious once more. "But she was really strong," she continued. "I didn't see it, but there had been an extremely large demonic presence from where I had found that girl and the family. And when I was half way there... it suddenly vanished."

After those words, there was only silence between the three girls. The only sound was the background noise of other people that were in the restaurant and the sizzling sound coming from the kitchen in the back.

"Hey Sakura," Tenten called out to the pinkette, breaking the silence. The demon girl looked up, her emerald eye meeting grey. "You said that this girl mistook you for a 'demon hunter'. Do you know anything about them?"

Sakura just crossed her arms above her chest, closed her eye and shook her head. "I've never heard of them before," she said. "Not until today."

"I see," Tenten said, letting out a sigh afterward. She crossed her arms and sunk lower into her seat. "There's also the fact that the girl had our school uniform on," she continued, "which means that she's most likely in our school. But from what Sakura said, it sounds like someone you would easily notice in Konoha High, and as far as I know, there isn't anyone like that." Then suddenly, Tenten's eyes began to fire up and raised a clenched fist. "If I knew there was, I'd have recruited them in the kendo club right away!"

"But you're in the naginata club, Tenten," Hinata whispered, a nervous smile playing on her lips and her sweat dropped.

The conversation was then put on hold as a slender girl with long, brown hair, large black eyes and fair skin, walked up towards the trio with three bowls on trays. Two on one tray and the other bowl on a slightly smaller one.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" the young woman said in a cheerful voice. "Here is your three bowls of ramen!" The brown haired woman placed the ceramic bowls in front of each individual girl and the flames in Tenten's eyes were put out by the sight and smell of the food in front of her. Her eyes now lit up in a very different way.

"Ah! Thank you Ayame!" Tenten cried in delight.

The waitress named Ayame, smiled happily at the girl's gratitude. "You're very welcome!" said the girl. She then gave the trio a bow. "Please enjoy the food!" And with that, the young woman left the table, heading back to the counter to wait for further orders from customers to be made.

"Okay!" the brunette shouted, clapping her hands together. "Since we're not getting anywhere with the mystery girl, we might as well start eating, right? Plus, I don't know about you guys but... I'm really hungry after three long days of exams."

Both Sakura and Hinata looked at one another and smiled from their friend's honesty, then, with an "Thank you for the meal!" from the trio, they all grabbed their disposable chopsticks, broke them apart and dug into their food. Like Tenten had said, since they didn't have enough information on the mysterious demon hunter, they all decided to talk about other things. From talking about the exams (which Tenten hated), wondering how each girl did, to talking about the upcoming summer festival the school, and it's students, would be holding further into the week. To the long awaited summer vacation that everyone was looking forward too.

Time passed by quickly this way and before they knew it, it had started to get late. Once the girls had finished off their meals and drinks, the trio exited Rāmen Ichiraku, with satisfied stomachs, and saying goodbye to one another, they all parted ways, going back to their respective homes.

* * *

There was only silence as the two girl's walked home, side by side. As they did, Sakura turned her gaze to the girl next to her. The ravenette's attention was fully on the path in front of her, and once the demon girl noticed that, she stealthily touched her abdomen. Sakura winced slightly from her fingers grazing the spot where the girl had kicked her and she wondered if the pale-blonde girl had left a mark.

"Are you alright Sakura-chan?"

The sound of Hinata's concerned voice made the pinkette's one eye widen a fraction and she placed her hand back to her side. She turned her gaze to the ravenette, who also had the same concerned look that matched her voice. "I'm fine," she said, smiling at the older girl. "Nothing's wrong."

Unfortunately for the pinkette, it looked like Hinata wasn't buying it one bit. She narrowed her eyes slightly, in suspicion, and then suddenly got in front of the demon girl. Before Sakura could ask what was going on, the ravenette grasped, with both hands, the younger girl's school shirt and vest. That was when the pink haired girl got the idea.

"W-Wait! Hina-!"

But the ravenette ignored Sakura's protest and in one fluent movement, Hinata lifted both pieces of clothing. The girl's white eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips when she saw the younger girl's abdomen. There was a massive bruise on the girl's stomach and from the looks of the colour, which was red mixed with a slight bluish purple, it was still mostly fresh.

"Why...?" the ravenette asked in a low voice. Sakura turned her gaze from the ravenette to look at the floor instead. It wasn't out of embarrassment because Hinata had lifted her shirt and vest up, revealing her stomach to the city. No, it was something else completely. Something much worse. "Why did you lie to me, Sakura-chan?"

It was guilt. She was overwhelmed with it. It was the fact that she had lied to the girl, who had always been honest and open with the pinkette, and knowing that, her chest had started to grow painful. Like she was being stabbed by a bunch of needles, over and over again. "I just didn't want to worry you," Sakura said for an excuse. "Besides, I'm a demon remember? This injury will be gone by tomorrow." When those words escaped her lips, the pinkette suddenly felt the other girl's head rest on her chest.

"But I _do_ worry." Hinata spoke, causing the pinkette's eye to widen and return her gaze back to the girl on her chest. The ravenette's grip on Sakura's uniform tightened. "I worry that when you go off and fight demons, that you will either come back terribly injured or... you won't come back at all."

Hinata closed her eyes tightly and scrunched up the younger girl's uniform even more. She knew that she shouldn't be saying these things, after all it had only been a week or two since they've known each other. But the girl couldn't help it. She remembered the conversation she had with Tenten. How she realized that the girl had been in a lot of sticky situations but always come out on top. When she told the brunette that she believed in Sakura, it wasn't a lie. But even though she said that, which was still true, she still had those wavering doubts.

 _I really am in love with her_ Hinata thought honestly, her heart tightening when she did. Even though she proclaimed, there was no way that her feelings for the demon girl were a simple crush, or admiration. A pair of hands grasping her shoulders brought Hinata out of her thoughts and she looked up. Her pools of white met gentle emerald. Why was she looking at her so kindly?

"I'm sorry Hinata," Sakura apologised, a smile to go with those words. "I shouldn't have lied to you in the first place."

"I-It's okay," the ravenette said, turning her gaze away. Really, there was no need for Sakura to apologise in the first place. Even if she did lie, Hinata knew that it was for her benefit. It was so that she wouldn't worry, like she was doing now.

The pinkette shook her head. "It's not," she told her, Hinata looking back up to meet the emerald gaze once more. "I'm your friend, and friends don't lie to one another." She then gave the ravenette a serious look. "That's why, from now on, I'll never lie to you. I'll always tell you everything.

"I can't promise that I won't die when I'm fighting a demon, nor will I come back without any serious injuries," she continued. Her expression then changed from serious to gentle. "But I can only promise one thing." She then smiled, in the ravenette's eyes, an affectionate smile. A smile that only Hinata got to see. "That I'll try my best not to get hurt. And to think more before I act. This that okay?"

Hearing those words, and seeing the honesty in the girl's eyes, Hinata could feel her eyes beginning to water. She gave a nod as a reply and then released the younger girl's uniform, opting to instead wrap her arms around her waist instead, placing her head back on the girl's chest.

"Hinata?"

"Please," the ravenette whispered. "Can we stay like this, for a little while?"

"...Sure," was the reply Sakura gave, before she, too, wrapped her own arms around the ravnette's back.

 _I really am selfish_ Hinata thought, as she listened to the sound of the pinkette's heartbeat. They both stood there, in the quietness of the streets, as a street lamp shone above the pair of them. Hinata wished, from the bottom of her heart, that this moment, being wrapped in the arms of the girl she loved, and feeling the warmth of her body, would last forever.

* * *

"Uuuuggghhh..."

"A-Are you alright, Tenten?" asked Hinata as she and Sakura were walking along the concrete path that lead to the school, with the brunette. The pair had met the girl half way through their walk and when they started walking together, both girl's noticed that the brunette was walking a bit sluggishly and was holding her stomach.

"My stomach feels sooooo heavy," Tenten replied, turning slightly pale when she did.

"You have no one to blame but yourself," Sakura stated matter-of-factly. "It's your fault that you had those three ramen bowls _and_ had them one after another."

"But they were so good that I couldn't help it!"

"They're full of grease and fat, and by the looks of things, it's heavy on the stomach," the pinkette continued. "And if it wasn't for the fact that you do naginata club everyday after school, I'd say you'd become fat quickly." The pinkette had to admit that she was surprised last night. She had never seen anyone eat that much before. Sakura could only eat one bowl of it and she was full after. The girl wondered then if the Tenten had the rumoured bottomless pit of a stomach, but looking at her now, it was the serious case of 'your eyes are bigger than you stomach' instead.

"That was mean Sakura. Bringing my weight into this!"

 _But I didn't say anything about your weight_ Sakura, thought cocking an eyebrow at the ramen loving girl.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh at the comedic scene before her. This sort of thing had been happening ever since the two girls had become more friendly with one another and she wouldn't have had it any other way. And thanks to it, the girl's had gotten to their school a lot faster. They made their way towards the shoe lockers, saying to hello to the other girls along the way, and once there, exchanged their outdoor shoes for their school slippers.

"Uggghhh, my stomach," Tenten moaned loudly as Sakura and Hinata finished putting on their footwear. Sakura let out an audible sigh when she heard her friend. This must have been about the tenth, or so, time that she had heard the girl say something about her stomach problem.

"Hey Tenten," Hinata spoke up, "why don't you go to the nurse's office and see if Kurenai-sensei has some medicine for you to take? We've still got plenty of time before homeroom starts."

"Y-Yeah, that's a good idea," she agreed with a sheepish smile. "I'll see you both in class. Later!" And with that, the brunette turned on her heel and made her way towards the nurse's office, her hands still holding onto her stomach as she did. When she saw her friend move further and further away, Hinata turned to face the pinkette.

"Well then. Shall we go too?" she asked with a smile. The demon girl gazed at the older girl and returned the smile, which the ravenette secretly loved, and both girls made their way to the staircase that lead to the second floor.

"Hey Sakura," Hinata called out. "What do you want to do for the school festival?"

"What do I want?" Sakura repeated, earning a nod in response. Now that she thought about it, this would be the first time that she would have been to a school festival, so she didn't really have a clue at what to do. When it always came to any sort of special event, Sakura would always choose to fight the demons instead of socializing with anyone. But now that she's got the opportunity...

Both girls had now gotten to the stairs and where about to make their way up. "Honestly I don't-"

"My, my, so we meet again."

Both girls stopped on the steps and looked up. Standing there on the top of the staircase was a fair skinned girl with long pale-blonde hair, which was tied into a high ponytail. Her blue eyes were looking down at the two girls in amusement, a smile playing on her lips. Hinata looked at the girl with confusion, wondering who the girl was, while Sakura was doing the exact opposite. She was glaring at the girl, hard, her hands balling up into fists and her nails digging into her palm.

"I take it by that glare your sending my way, you remember who I am?" the girl asked, placing a hand on her hip.

At that moment, realization came to Hinata's mind. "Sakura-chan," she called to her friend. "Is this girl..."

The pinkette gave a nod to Hinata's unfinished question. The girl in front of them was the 'demon hunter' that she had fought with last night. She was someone that she couldn't forget. Just looking at her made her remember the injury she had taken on her abdomen. The bruise was gone, but to her, it felt like it was still there, engraved into her body.

"Who are you...?" the pink haired demon asked, venom lacing her voice.

"Don't you have any manners?" the blue eyed girl asked, frowning. "Isn't it proper to introduce yourself first before asking for mine?"

Those words, coming out of her lips, made Sakura grit her teeth. Sensing that danger was soon approaching, Hinata decided to step up, hoping to stop whatever was going to happen in the next moment. The last thing she wanted was to have a bloodbath in the middle of the school.

"My name is Hyūga Hinata," the ravenette introduced herself. "And this is my friend, Haruno Sakura." The corner of the mysterious girl's lips pulled up, making herself smirk. That sight alone only pissed off Sakura more.

"Thank you, Hyūga-san," the girl said, then, her gaze turned to the pinkette. "Now was that so hard, Haruno-san?" If looks could kill, the girl would have died a thousand times over from Sakura's emerald eyed glare. Trying her best not to summon out her scythe, and not strike down the girl there and then, Sakura calmly, as much as she could, decided to speak up.

"So," she began. "Now that you know our names, what's yours?"

The blonde haired girl looked at the one-eyed pinkette for a second longer before she closed her eyes, that held her pools of blue, and smiled even more. For a moment, Hinata wondered if she was ever going to say her name, and was only doing this to rile Sakura up. Because by the looks of it, it was working extremely well. She could practically see the vein that was popping out of the younger girl's head.

"Ino..." the girl finally spoke up. Both girls looked at the girl quizzically and when the girl opened her eyes she saw both girl's expressions. "That's my name, Ino. Yamanaka, Ino."

 _Yamanaka... Ino..._ Sakura thought, narrowing her eyes slightly. For some reason, hearing the girl's name made something nag in the back of the pinkette's head, trying to tell her something important. But for the life of her she couldn't think why.

 _DING DONG DING DONG..._

The school's bell, signalling that homeroom was soon going to start, had rung, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts. The girl named Yamanaka Ino, finally started to descend the steps of the staircase, walked in between both Sakura and Hinata and her feet touched the first floor. She had then started to walk away, and when the pinkette saw that, she yelled out to her.

"Hey!" she cried. "Where the hell are you going?!" The blonde haired girl stopped in her tracks and turned her head so that she could see Sakura from the corner of her eyes.

"I'm going to the faculty office of course," she told her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "From this day on, I'll be coming to this school." The blue eyed girl then closed her eyes and smirked once more. "Who knows, I might be transferring into your class." Ino then laughed a little. "My, wouldn't that be fun?" And with that, the girl walked off again, making her way towards the faculty office.

Both girls could only watch as the new girl made her way towards the teacher's room and knocked on the door, before opening it, entering and finally closing the door behind her. At that moment, Sakura thought that things couldn't possibly get any more worse.

But somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that wasn't true. Far from it.

* * *

 **And there we go for that chapter and mysterious girl was none other than Ino!(though already probably had guessed it.) Like I said, this isn't my best chapter, but I promise that the future ones will be much better. I might give myself a little rest, otherwise, my writing will get crappier and crappier. Or worse, more writers block. Plus, for the next chapter, I'm going to bring back someone, that you guys have not seen (or read) for a while. Wonder who it is? Have to wait till next time.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **T** **hanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	20. Demon vs Hunter! Sakura vs Ino!

**Hey guys and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love. Before I get into the reviews and thank yous, I just want to mention that this chapter is the longest one I have done in this series so far. Not including the author notes, this chapter contains 7050 words. However after this chapter I'm going to go back to my limit, which is normally 2500 - 3000 (3500 to be on the safe side).**

 **First time for the thank you part:  
-savemechocolate (Favourited Demonic Love)  
-Fluttershy 2059123 (Following Demonic Love)**

 **Now for the reviews:  
-CaptainJack.S - Sorry if I made you think that I had stopped this story and I'll accept your hugs. I'm glad that your very understanding and I hope you enjoy this chapter. And yes, this will be a long story as well.**

 **-KitsuneGirl1994 - I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I can only hope that you enjoy this chapter as well. And the answer to your question, about why Sakura thinks Ino is so familiar, will soon be answered.**

 **-savemechocolate - I'm glad that you are enjoying the story, and here is the update you've waited for.**

 **-Fluttershy 0259123 - I'm happy that you find it interesting and in a way that you like. (This is for chapters 1 and 2).**

 **Anyway, enough from me. I hope you enjoy!**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

It was now after school, and Hinata was standing in the gymnasium, where the Kendo and Naginata clubs would practice. Or... were suppose to practice. If the ravenette could describe, in words, the atmosphere in the moment she was in, they would be the likes of, heavy. Apprehensive. Tense. There many more words to describe the situation, but right now, those words were what hit her the most. And the reason for it, was right in front of her.

Standing there, on the Naginata club's side and a giant blue gym mat underneath their feet, were two individuals. Standing on her left side, with a wooden bamboo naginata in her left hand, was the pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura. Her brows were furrowed and her emerald gaze was serious. The Hyūga girl has only seen that look a few times when the pinkette was going against somebody that was extremely strong. And since she saw that expression now only meant that her opponent was, indeed, strong.

And that opponent, standing on Hinata's right side, was the pale-blonde, blue eyed transfer student, that the ravenette had met this morning, Yamanaka Ino. Unlike Sakura's, the girl's expression was entirely different. Her eyes were calm and her body relaxed. A small smile graced her lips, as she stared into the demon girl's sharp emerald gaze, her right hand held a wooden bamboo sword that the Kendo club would use for practice. From the corner of her eye she could see a first year student, who would be acting as the match's referee, look at both girls before she raised her arm up toward the ceiling.

"The match between second year student's, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, is about to begin!" the girl announced. "The rules are as followed; the person to be hit first by their opponent's weapon is declared the loser! If an individual leaves the mat, or if they announce their defeat, they are also declared the loser!" The first year student, once finished with the rules, turned her gaze to Sakura. "Are you ready, Haruno-senpai?"

The pinkette gave a nod in confirmation and upon seeing it, the first year then turned her attention to the blonde haired girl. "Yamanaka-senpai, are you ready?"

"Of course," she replied, flicking the bangs that framed the right side of her face with her hand.

And with that reply, the match was just about to start. Hinata's chest suddenly began to tighten and she placed both of her hands top of her breast. _Sakura-chan, please be careful_ she prayed in her thoughts. She didn't know why, but the girl had weird feeling that this wasn't going to be just an ordinary match. A hand was placed suddenly on the girl's shoulder and when the white eyed girl turned to look, she saw that it belonged to her childhood friend, Tenten. The brunette was smiling confidently at her.

"She'll be fine, Hinata. Don't you worry," she said and with those words, the tightness that was in her chest had eased slightly.

Hinata gave a small smile of her own and nodded her head, returning her gaze back to the two individuals in front of her. All she could do at that point, and the only thing she _could_ do, was watch and see how this match would turn out.

The referee, once both girl's had acknowledged they were ready, swung down her arm and cried out the word that would start the match between the demon and demon hunter.

"Begin!"

* * *

 _Six and a half hours earlier_

It was homeroom now, a few minutes after the meeting with the new transfer, and demon hunter, named Yamanaka Ino. But unlike the other homerooms that the student's would normally have, this time was different. This homeroom was about the up coming school festival that the entire student body of Konoha High would be doing in a few days time. Each class's representative would ask their own classmates what they would like to do during that day and begin preparation. Class 2-B was no exception.

Since Hinata was the class representative of 2-B, she was standing in front of the podium, while their homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi, was sitting at his desk and reading book that was part of a series called _Icha Icha_. The ravenette and the rest of the girl's were so used to his laid back ways that they just carried on, ignoring the fact that the man was reading an adult novel in a classroom, and ignored him when he started to giggle behind his mask, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks as he did.

"As you all know, the school festival will be held this Saturday," Hinata spoke loudly to the girls. "So we need to decide what our class will be doing on that day. Any suggestions?" When she asked, a hand went immediately up.

"A Café!" the girl, with the raised hand, cried out excitedly.

"I wanna do a play!" said another girl with the same enthusiasm. The girl then clasped her hands together. "I want to do a romantic story, like Romeo and Juliet, but with a twist ending so that they live happily ever after!"

After that, one by one, the other girls began to raise their hands and suggest either something new or agree on one of the already requested events. Some of the girls even then began to bicker as to why they should do this event or that event. Hinata let out a little nervous laugh, while she wrote down the things suggested, as chaos ensued and the ravenette saw Tenten let out a sigh. When the white eyed girl's gaze turned to her pink haired classmate however, the laugh slowly died away.

Sakura's head was leaning on her hand, supporting her, and her emerald gaze was fixed on the outside. From where she was standing, Hinata knew that the younger girl was thinking. A lot. She had been like that since she and the pinkette had encountered the new girl. Yamanaka Ino. The demon hunter that Sakura had told her and Tenten about back at Rāmen Ichiraku's. With the way she looked right now, all Hinata wanted to do was go up to her and hug there and then. But even she knew that wouldn't solve anything. Plus, it would be too embarrassing to do something like that anyway.

"Hyūga-san?" called out a girl sitting at one of the front seats near Hinata, bringing the girl back to the living. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah I'm fine," she responded. Right now the only thing that the ravenette could do for the pinkette is to let her think things through and give her some space. And with that thought in mind, homeroom carried on and the ravenette continued with the task at hand. "Now with all the suggestions in, class 2-B's event at the festival will be..."

* * *

"Really!"

Hinata gave a nod. It was lunch now, and the ravenette had just finished explaining what had happened after the brunette had left to go to the nurse's office that morning. She couldn't tell Tenten after she had come back, due to the preparation of their selected event for the school festival. But now that it was lunch time, the two girls had joined Hinata's desk to Sakura's and all three of them were now eating together, chatting. Well the two of them were. Sakura was still quiet.

"Well, at least we know that she won't be in this class then," Tenten commented, gripping some food with her chopsticks and putting it in her mouth. "That's a good thing. Don't you think, Sakura?" There was a long pause and the brunette didn't get a reply, which she found strange. Calling her name once more, Tenten turned away from her meal and looked at the pinkette. The younger girl had her head leaning on her hand while the other was using the chopsticks to play around with the home made boxed lunch that Hinata had made.

"Oi! SAKURA!"

Sakura flinched (or more like nearly jumped out of her skin) from Tenten's shout and looked at the brunette with a startled expression. "W-What is it?" she stuttered.

"Jeez Sakura," Tenten continued. "That was the third time I called you. What's got into you all of a sudden?"

"I'm sorry," she apologised, turning her emerald gaze away from the older girl's grey orbs and stared at her food, guiltily. The ravenette, seeing the girl's expression, had a clear idea of what was occupying the girl's thoughts and decided to speak up about it.

"Is this about Yamanaka-san?" she asked. The demon girl slowly gave a nod in response, hitting the nail right on the head. She didn't know why, but ever since the pale-blonde girl had told her name, Sakura has had a nagging feeling at the back of her mind. And, try as she might, the girl still couldn't make heads to tails of what it was that was bothering her.

"Yamanaka-san? You mean the demon hunter?" said Tenten confusingly, cocking an eyebrow. "Why would you be thinking about her?" When those words escaped her lips, her eyes widened, like she realized something, and then narrowed mischievously, a smile to match, making her look like a Cheshire cat that was planning something. "Or is it maybe that you have a little crush on this demon hunter perhaps?"

The pinkette's one eye, as well as the ravenette's white eyes, instantly widened and the demon girl's cheeks flushed red. She turned her gaze back to the brunette and glared at her. "W-What are you talking about?!" Tenten, however, just laughed off the glare that was sent her way.

"Hahahaha, sorry, sorry!" she apologised while she laughed. "It was a joke! I was joking!"

Sakura glared at the girl for a moment longer, before she went back to food. "Idiot," she mumbled, the crimson hue still staining her cheeks.

While Tenten continued to giggle at Sakura's reaction and said girl had decided to ignore her, Hinata had suddenly lost her appetite. She knew that the brunette was joking. She _knew_ that. But when Tenten had mentioned the possibility that Sakura could like Yamanaka Ino, the mere thought of it had made the ravenette's chest tighten. She had to admit, the blue eyed girl was beautiful, and could probably get any boy, or girl (if she swung that way) that she wanted.

But when it came to Sakura, Hinata didn't want her to fall in love with anybody else. The ravenette knew that was her jealousy talking, but they were her honest thoughts. And because they were, the ravenette hated herself for it.

* * *

The final bell of the day, signalling the end of school, rung throughout the building and students had begun to either head home, or head to their designated clubs. Since they didn't belong to any clubs, Sakura and Hinata gave their farewells to Tenten, who went to the gym for her Naginata club, and exited the school. The sound of the crows could heard from the sky as soon as they left the building, the summer breeze brushing against the girl's skin and rustling the girl's clothes.

"That feels good," Hinata commented, closing her eyes and relishing in the afternoon sunlight. The feeling of the sun's rays hitting her skin was slowly starting to help the Hyūga girl's sullen mood that had been hanging over her since lunch. It didn't affect her much when it came to helping out the preparations for the festival, but she hated having that feeling throughout the time.

"You think so?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," Hinata responded. "After a hard days work, having the feeling of the sun and wind hit the skin of my body makes me feel nice." Stretching out her limbs, Hinata then interlaced her fingers behind her back and turned to face the pink haired girl. "Hey Sakura, is there anything special you want for dinner tonight?" she asked the younger girl with a smile.

"Dinner?" the pinkette replied, surprised for a moment of the sudden topic change of the scenery to food. "Nothing I can think of, why?"

"It's just that we could make our way to the convenience store on our way home," she told her. "Plus, I've got my part time job to go to later on, so just thought I should make dinner as soon as we get home."

"I see," Sakura said. "If that's the case, anything's fine."

"Anything...?" Hinata said, disappointment laced in her voice. The pinkette noticed how the girl sound and smiled.

"That's right," she spoke. "That's because anything that Hinata makes tastes great."

Hinata let out a small gasp, her eyes widening for a moment before they relaxed. Her chest was suddenly swelled with warmth and she had begun to blush from the compliment. Hinata wondered sometimes if the pinkette knew what she said had a huge impact on her feelings. But that was what she loved about her. And things like that only made her grow more and more in love with her.

"Okay. Then how about-"

 _VVRRMM! VVRRMM!_

Hinata was suddenly cut of by a vibration in her skirt pocket, followed by a little ringtone which indicated that she had got a message. Wondering who it could be, she reached into pocket, fished out her cell phone and flipped it open. The girl cocked an eyebrow when she saw who it was from. On the display, it read that Hinata had gotten a message from Tenten, which she found strange.

"Who is it?" Sakura asked, walking closer to the the raven haired girl.

"It's Tenten," she responded and then opened up the message, which read:

 _Come to the gymnasium, quickly! There's something you and Sakura are going to want to see!_

"What does she want?"

"Apparently there's something going on at the gym that Tenten wants us to see," Hinata told her, flipping the phone closed and placing it back into her pocket. The girl then turned her white eyed gaze back to the younger girl. "Shall we go see what it is?" she asked, and got a nod in response. And with that, both girl's went back inside the school, replaced their outdoor shoes with their slippers once more and made their way to the gymnasium.

* * *

The sight before the pair of girls was astonishing. The gymnasium was packed full of girls, and the ravenette and Sakura weren't even inside the massive indoor room yet. The doors to the gym were also full of girls, and looked to be a tight squeeze.

The two girls, seeing the obstacle that they would have to over come, turned to face one another and the pair of them nodded in unison. Then, they walked up to the crowded door and slowly started to make their way through. With a few apologises from both girls, from either moving someone out of the way or accidentally stepping on someone's foot, Sakura and Hinata finally made it through from the jungle of girls and luckily enough they noticed Tenten was near.

"Tenten!" Hinata called out, getting the girl's attention.

"Finally, there you two are!" the brunette said.

"Sorry," Hinata apologised. "It took a bit of time getting through with all those girls around. Anyway, what was it that you wanted us to see?"

The brunette, hearing that, turned back to face the front and pointed out in front of her. "That," was all she said.

Earning confused looks from both girls, the pinkette and the younger girl turned their gazes to the kendo side of the gymnasium. Standing there, Hinata counted eleven girls. Ten of the girls were wearing kendogi, the uniform for the Kendo club and each had a kendo bamboo sword, a shinai, in their hands. Those ten girls were surrounding the eleventh girl, who wasn't wearing a kendogi. Rather, she was wearing Konoha High's uniform and she also had a shinai in her hand.

The girl in the middle looked familiar to Hinata and when she got a closer look, she knew why and couldn't help herself from becoming surprised. The girl had pale blonde hair, tied into a high ponytail and bangs that framed the right side of her face. Her eyes were hidden behind closed eye lids, but she knew that they were as blue as a cloudless sky in morning light. It was none other than Yamanaka Ino, the transfer student and the girl she had met only hours ago.

"Yamanaka-san?" Hinata said, more to herself than any one. Tenten, however, heard what she said.

"So that's her, huh?" the brunette said, "The demon hunter?"

The ravenette gave a nod to her friend, her eyes never leaving what was in front of her. But after a while, knowing who it was, worriedly, Hinata turned her gaze to the younger girl of the group. She didn't need to guess of what kind of expression the girl had on her face, as it was written on there plain as day. The pinkette had furrowed her brows and narrowed her emerald eye slightly. All of her focus was on what was in front of her, and, not wanting to disrupt her, the white eyed girl turned back and watched the events in front of her unfold.

Luckily enough, the three girls were able to hear the conversation between the girls of eleven.

"Are you sure about this, Yamanaka-san?" one of the girls, a second year, asked.

"Yeah, Yamanaka-senpai," another girl, a first year from the honorific she used, spoke up. "Ten against one seems a little unfair. Don't you at least want to wear the helmet and gloves?" The concern in the girl's voice was genuine and it was quite understandable, from Hinata's point of view. But the blonde haired girl just smiled that concern away.

"I understand your concern, but I don't need it," the girl said. The first year girl was about to say something more, but probably sensing that, Yamanaka opened her eyes, exposing her blue orbs and shot a look at the young girl, stopping the words that were about to leave the girl's throat.

"Oi, Yamanaka!" another girl spoke up, this time a third year. The ravenette recognised her as she was the captain of the Kendo club, Miiragi Yūki. "She was only worried that you might get hurt. There was no need to glare at her like that!"

The blonde's blue eyes turned from the first year and locked on to Yūki's. She then closed her eyes and a smirk soon plagued her lips, which only irritated the third year more. "I know that. But I appreciate it if she, and you, keep your concerns to yourselves. It's stupid."

"What was that!" the older girl barked, gritting her teeth.

While the exchange of conversation was going on, the brunette let out a loud whistle. "Wow. Have to say, for a new girl, she's got balls," the girl commented. "You know, this reminds me of the time of when Sakura first came to this school."

Now that she thought about it too, the brunette was right. Watching the scene now, Hinata had a weird sense of déjà vu. She could still remember, like it was yesterday, how Sakura was cold to her and how Tenten had fought for her. She was glad, however, that everything had turned out all right in the end. But at the moment, she couldn't say the same for the blue eyed transfer.

"That's it!" Yūki shouted out. "I've had enough of this. Everyone, don't hold back!" And with that command, the rest of the girls shouted "Yes!" in response to their captain's order and they all placed their helmets upon their head and took their fighting stances.

"Hmph," came a noise from Yamanaka, as she opened her eyes and swung her shinai, once, to the side, indicating that she was ready.

"Let's go!" the third year captain cried out and with it, all ten girls charged at once, like a single unit. But, unfortunately, if what Sakura had told her and Tenten was right... then the Kendo club girls didn't stand a chance.

The first person to strike at Yamanaka was Yūki. She attacked with practised hands as she came in with a vertical slash. It was a strike that was fast and precise, one that you would expect coming from the captain of the Kendo club. But it wasn't enough. The blue eyed girl just smiled at the incoming slash and side stepped at the last moment. The third year girl was left wide open and Yamanaka took that opportunity to strike herself. Swinging her shinai, from beneath Yūki's, the blonde haired girl knocked the older girl's bamboo sword out from her hands and into the air.

Then, not missing a beat, the blonde crossed her arm, with the hand that held the shinai, and with one quick movement, she swung her weapon at the defenceless third year. Yūki could only watch as the second year's weapon struck her breastplate, and was flung back. She hit the blue mat, landing on her back, and the helmet that she wore fell off her head when she hit the ground. The shinai that was in the air had started to let gravity take over, as it fell. When Yūki fell to the ground, Yamanaka closed her eyes and let out a little sigh, before she caught the falling shinai effortlessly.

The entire gym was silent for a moment, not believing their eyes. Everyone who was in the room knew that Miiragi Yūki was the best when it came to kendo, and seeing her fall after one strike, no one knew what to say. The remaining nine girls, that were surrounding blonde, had forgotten all about attacking and opted to go to their fallen leaders side instead.

"Amazing," Tenten said. "That Yamanaka girl defeated Yūki-senpai with one strike, and without even breaking a sweat."

"That's wrong," Sakura spoke up, gaining both Hinata's and the brunette's attention. "It wasn't one strike that defeated Miiragi, but three consecutive strikes."

"How could you tell Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked.

"Because I saw it," the girl replied and turned her head to look at the two girls. The pinkette's eye patch was flipped up, her demonic eye exposed, which caused both girls to worry. Tenten was the first one to project that worry.

"Hey, is it really safe for you to do that with all these girls around?" she asked, the ravenette thinking the same thing.

"It's alright," she reassured. "Everyone is too distracted to notice something this small." Saying that, and having seen what she wanted to see, Sakura placed the eye patch back on her eye and then, abruptly, started to walk forward, heading for the band of girls. When Hinata noticed this, she called out the girl's name, but the pinkette didn't stop and seeing that she wasn't the Hyūga girl followed the her, who was then followed by Tenten.

"Really, is that it?" Yamanaka Ino asked, looking at the girl that was on the floor. But she didn't receive an answer of any kind, which meant the girl was knocked out, and the girls that had been surrounding her at one point where now surrounding the third year girl instead, calling out to see if she was all right. The blonde let out another sigh. "How disappointing."

"Yamanaka!"

The blonde demon hunter turned her head toward the voice that had called out to her, and when she saw a familiar girl with pink hair standing a few feet away from her, the girl couldn't help but smirk. "Well, it's nice to see you again, Haruno-san," she said, then turned her gaze to Hinata. "Hyūga-san." Then finally she turned her to blue eyes to the brunette and she stared at her for a few moments... before she turned her attention back on the other two girls. "So what do I owe this pleasure for?"

"DON'T JUST IGNORE ME LIKE THAT!" the brunette yelled, glaring at the girl.

"I'm going to cut to the chase," Sakura said, ignoring the twin bunned girl's shout. "What you did just now was going too far."

"What I did?" she repeated. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know exactly what I mean," Sakura argued. "If it wasn't for the fact Miiragi had her breastplate on, those three attacks would have done more than just wind her to unconsciousness." The girl's eyes widened when she heard that.

"My, so you noticed that," she said, her smirk then coming back immediately. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. Even other demon hunters wouldn't be able to see that." The blonde haired demon hunter then made an expression, like she had suddenly been hit by an idea, and Hinata had a bad feeling about it.

"Say Haruno-san," she called out to the pinkette. The girl narrowed her brows, wondering what the girl was going to ask. When she spoke her next words, it was something that Sakura, Hinata and even Tenten wasn't expecting.

"How about we have a sparring match?"

* * *

Once Miiragi Yūki was sent to the nurse's office, thanks to the help of the Kendo club girls, the gymnasium had become dead silent. And because it was that silent, you could practically hear all the breathing from everyone that was in the massive room. Both Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino made their way towards the giant blue mat on the Naginata club's side of the gymnasium, a weapon in their hand. For Sakura, her's was the wooden naginata, while the blonde opted to use the shinai from her earlier bout with the kendo club girls from before.

A first year girl, who would be acting as referee for the bout, had begun to state the rules of this match. And while she did so, Sakura furrowed her brows and her emerald gaze became serious. She gazed into her opponent's eyes that were completely calm and her body was relaxed. A small smile was gracing her lips, as if she wasn't taking this seriously at all. Wasn't taking Sakura seriously.

The pinkette tightened the grip on her weapon, as her blood boiled within her veins. Whether it was from anger, that the girl was practically using her body language to tell her that Sakura wasn't a threat, or excitement, that the last time she fought the blonde she didn't get to fight her properly but now she could, she didn't know. She didn't know which emotion it was, but she did know one thing. Her opponent was strong. And, if she went by what she saw with Miiragi Yūki, the girl known as Yamanaka Ino was fast also.

"Are you ready, Haruno-senpai?" the first year asked Sakura, to which she gave a nod in response. Seeing that, the girl then turned her attention to the girl with pools of blue. "Yamanaka-senpai, are you ready?"

"Of course," the girl replied, flicking the bangs that framed the right side of her face with her hand. The pinkette's emerald gaze became a lot sharper than it did before. Regardless of everything else, the only thing that Sakura wanted to do right now, was to wipe the smile that played on the girl's lips, off of her face. And with that objective in mind, the demon girl mentally prepared herself for the fight ahead.

The referee, once she got the acknowledgement from both girls, and saw that they were in fact ready, swung down her arm and cried out the word that would start the fight between Sakura and the demon hunter, Yamanaka Ino.

"Begin!"

As soon as those words left the girl's mouth, Sakura immediately began. She charged at the blonde head on, not worrying about if she was using too much of her demonic speed, and once she was close, she swung her naginata in a downwards arc. Bamboo met bamboo as Yamanaka blocked the attack with relative ease, using her other hand, with the palm pushing against the back of the blade, for support.

"Eager, aren't we?" the blue eyed girl said. Sakura smiled at the comment, and the other girl did as well, before she pushed against the deadlock that had been formed.

The pinkette jumped backwards, away from the blonde, and soon as she landed, her vision was instantly covered with bamboo. Sakura, realizing what it was, ducked and instantly a shinai had swung where the girl was only standing a moment ago. Looking up, the one eyed girl saw the smug smile on Yamanaka's face as the other girl was looking down at her, her blue eyes smiling much like her lips were. That sight pissed Sakura off, so while she was still crouched, the pinkette twisted around in a three hundred and sixty degree angle and brought her wooden naginata up in a diagonal slash.

The blonde easily, using one hand, back-flipped out of the way of the incoming attack and again, there was distance between the two fighters. Sakura slowly stood up, her eye never leaving the blonde's, and they both just stayed still for a moment. Not even two seconds went by before this time both girls charged at one another at the same time.

The pinkette began the fight once more, starting it off with a fast vertical strike from the right, which the blonde parried, and followed it up with an overhead attack. The other girl stepped to the side, on the pinkette's left, and flanked the girl with the same attack that she used to defeat Miiragi Yūki.

"You're open!" the girl cried out, swing her shinai in a vertical arc.

Seeing the attack coming, Sakura miraculously twisted her body and defended against the strike at the last possible moment. When the three consecutive strikes hit the pinkette's naginata, the girl skidded across the mat beneath her feet and stopped just at the edge. _Damn!_ Sakura cursed in her thoughts. _She's not holding back._ The pinkette looked at the hand that was holding the naginata and noticed that it was shaking. She clicked her tongue, and then looked up, back at the other girl.

Yamanaka straightened herself and flicked her bangs away from her face once more, before she turned her blue gaze on Sakura and smiled. The demon girl's grip tightened around her weapon. If the blonde girl was going to be fighting seriously, then Sakura was going to do the same.

"I hope your ready, Yamanaka," Sakura said. "Because I'm not going to hold back now." The blonde's face remained the same after those words left Sakura's mouth, and seeing that, the pink haired girl charged once more in to the fray.

* * *

"Haruno-senpai and Yamanaka-senpai are amazing," one of the girls in the gymnasium said in awe.

"Yeah," another girl agreed. "I've never seen such a intense match before." One by one, other girl's began to say things and even some of them looked on like they mesmerized. Tenten looked at those girls and her sweat dropped.

"Hey Hinata," Tenten called out as the two girls continued on with their fight. "Is this really going to be alright?"

"What do you mean, Tenten?" the younger girl asked, turning her gaze to the brunette.

"It's just that I've got a bad feeling that if these two are getting too serious," the brunette continued. "The weapons they're using won't last long. They're not meant for this kind of match. Also..." Tenten paused for a moment. "From the looks of things, it looks like that Yamanaka girl is just making fun of Sakura. And that's only adding more fuel to the fire."

Hinata continued to stare at friend, listening to her words, before the sound of wood crashing with one another brought her attention back to the fight.

* * *

The pinkette skidded backwards once more and when she stopped, she started to breathe heavily. Sakura hated to admit it, but the girl known as Yamanaka Ino was really good. No wonder the massive demon that she had sensed yesterday disappeared like wasn't there in the first place. If one demon hunter was this skilled, the pinkette would hate to find out what a clan of them would be like.

"Ready to give up Haruno-san?" the blonde asked with her ever present smile. "I wouldn't blame you if you would."

Once she got her breathing under control, Sakura gave the blue eyed girl a smile of her own. "Are you kidding?" she asked rhetorically. "Like hell I'd give up. I'm just getting started."

"Hmph, have it your way," she said, but then made a face like she just remembered something. "Oh and Haruno-san, as anyone ever told you?"

The demon girl cocked an eyebrow. "Told me what?" she asked, wondering where she was going with that line of questioning.

"That you've got a giant forehead."

When those words left the girl's mouth and went through Sakura's ears, the pinkette's eyebrows twitched. _Giant... forehead..._ Sakura thought, her blood beginning to boil from the insult. Two could play at that game. "And did _you_ know, Yamanaka..." the pinkette started, making the other girl frown, wondering to see what she was going to say. The demon girl mentally smiled, wickedly. "That your face reminds me of that of a pig?"

When the demon hunter heard that, Sakura could clearly see that a vein had popped on the front of her head. "A pig... you say..." she said slowly and then began to laugh robotically.

"That's right," Sakura agreed, and she too began to laugh the same the same tone as the blonde, their robotic laughter echoing the quiet gymnasium. Their laughter went on, and on, and on and on, until finally, in unison, they both stopped and glared at one another with murderous rage in their gazes.

"You little bitch!" Yamanaka cursed at the pinkette. "How dare you say that _I_ look like a pig, you damn Billboard Brow!"

"How dare _I_?!" Sakura shouted back. " _You_ were the one who started all of this, Ino-Pig!"

"W-What the hell did you just call me!"

"You heard me!"

* * *

"H-Hey, Hinata...?" Tenten called out to her childhood friend again, as she watch and listened to the two fighters bicker at one another.

"W-What is it, Tenten," Hinata asked, also doing the same as the older girl.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" she asked. "I'm kinda at a loss here."

"W-Well..." Hinata began, trying to think of an answer. She watched as the pink haired girl and the blonde demon hunter continued to verbally insult each other, hoping that an answer would pop up. Her sweat dropped. "Sorry, Tenten, I don't know either."

* * *

"That's it!" Yamanaka cried out. "I've had enough of that mouth of yours! I say that it's time we ended this fight of ours, right now!"

"I couldn't agree more," Sakura replied, taking her fighting stance. All joking and name calling aside, Sakura had to be careful. Neither she or Yamanaka had managed to deal blow yet, but the pinkette knew that the blonde was the one who has been dominating the fight so far. And even though she was very good at hiding it on the outside, the truth was that Sakura was beginning to get tired. Which was why it was now or never.

Yamanaka also took her fighting stance, gripping the shinai with both of her hands instead of just holding with one. It looked like she was getting serious too. And once the blonde gave Sakura one of her cocky smiles, for her that was the signal to start. Letting out a war cry, the pink haired demon girl ran and charged at the blonde, a plan already set in motion in her head.

When Sakura was close enough, she swung her naginata in a diagonal arc once more, coming from the left-down. Yamanaka didn't move and once the pinkette's weapon was close to the girl herself, that was when the plan came to be. She was going to do what Tenten had done when she was against her. And that was a feint attack. So, when her weapon nearly came into contact with her opponent, she switched the direction. She twisted her body, going three hundred and sixty degrees, and swung the weapon vertically from the right instead.

But the girl, however, didn't look that worried and continued to look confident. And that was when Sakura understood why. The demon hunter ducked under the swing, just missing her by a hair width, and rolled forward. The pinkette's emerald gaze followed her, as the blonde rolled far away from her, turned herself around and stopped, on one knee on the blue mat beneath her and facing the pinkette.

 _Damn it!_ Sakura cursed once more, berating herself for missing her target. She was about to turn around and run at he again but before she did, she noticed the other girl, placing her shinai onto the ground and began to do something with her hands. _Hand gestures?_ the girl wondered, but then shook her head. It didn't matter what the other girl was doing at that moment. What mattered was the fact that the girl was now defenceless and was now a perfect time to strike.

"Your mine!" Sakura cried out, charging at the now defenceless Yamanaka, who continued to do the hand gestures, not worrying about the girl heading for her. By the time the other girl had finished with the gestures, Sakura was already on top of her and swung down her weapon for the win.

Or that was the hope.

"Mind Switch Body Technique..." When those words were spoken, Sakura's body immediately stopped. Her one eye widened as she felt her very mind being pushed away.

 _W-What's going-?!_

But Sakura never got to finish that thought. Her vision had suddenly started to grow black, and the last thing the pinkette saw was blonde falling over and hitting the ground, before losing her own consciousness.

* * *

When Yamanaka Ino opened her eyes, after doing the Mind Switch Body Technique, she was expecting to be in the gymnasium with all the other girls and expected to see her body on the floor unconscious. But she never, in her wildest dreams, thought she would be standing where she was now.

She was standing in a middle of a road, surrounded by many buildings, tall and small. There were cars parked on the side but none of them were ever moving. She didn't even need to think twice on were she was. The place that she was standing in was none other than...

 _Konohagakure..._

That's right. She was standing in the middle of road of Konohagakure's streets. But for some reason, Ino found it strange. It looked like the large city, but at the same time it wasn't. The reason being was that there wasn't a person in sight. Not one person was walking along the streets. It was like a barren wasteland with buildings.

 **"Do you like it?"**

Ino's eyes suddenly widened when an underworldy and sinister voice, which sounded slightly familiar, spoke out all of a sudden. A huge amount of chakra had suddenly engulfed her surroundings and it felt extremely heavy, almost to the point of choking the blonde. Slowly, she turned her head around, and looked behind her to where the source of this huge power was. And if Ino's eyes could have widened even more than they could have now, her eyes would have fallen out.

Standing there was a girl that looked to be same age as her. But not just any girl. No, it was the girl she had just been fighting against. _Haruno Sakura..._ was what Ino thought, but then mentally shook her head. _No that's not right._ The girl may have look like her, with pink shoulder length hair, same face, physique and if you took away the underwordly echo, then she had the same voice. But this girl that was with her now was completely different.

For starters, there was her eyes. The sclera, what should have been the white of her eyes, were completely black and her pupils were a demonic golden-yellow that sent shivers up and down Ino's spine just by looking into them. She wore a black kimono with a cherry blossom design that matched her hair and her left arm was the blackest of red's Ino had ever seen, and in it's hand held a giant scythe, which was supported using the mysterious girl's shoulder. But the most chilling thing of all, was the smile that was on her face, like she was planning something sinister and was enjoy the outcome in her head.

 **"I was getting slightly bored in here, so I decided to make a little playground for myself,"** the demonic eyed girl said, using her pinky finger and putting it in her ear. She then removed her finger and smiled wickedly. **"So, allow me to welcome you to my domain..."** the girl continued, narrowing her eyes in to slits.

 **"Yamanaka Ino."**

* * *

 **And there you have chapter 20, and the character that I have brought back, if none of you had guessed it, is none other than Izanami. To be honest I was going to bring her back anyway, because she'll be an important character later on in the story. I really hope this chapter made up for the last one and if it didn't the I'm sorry. But I'll still carry on regardless. I'm determined to finish this story, which is why I've stopped my other two stories to get this one done.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **T** **hanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	21. Sakura's Inner Demon, Ino's Living Hell

**Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well, and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. First of all I want to thank these people:**

 **-Lian Mei (Following Demonic Love)  
-awkwardSEall (Following Demonic Love)**

 **Now for the reviews:  
-KitsuneGirl1994 - I'm really happy that you found my last chapter awesome. And about you're feelings about the situation that Ino's in, maybe this chapter will answer your question.**

 **Anyway, enough from me. I hope you enjoy!**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

 **"Welcome to my domain, Yamanaka Ino."**

Ino couldn't help but let her eyes go wide from surprise. How, or more likely why, did this thing or whoever this demonic eyed girl was, with the monstrous chakra, know the blonde's name? The pink haired girl, that looked like Haruno Sakura, let out a wicked chuckle, like she knew what the girl was thinking.

 **"What? Are you surprised that I know you?"** she asked, making the Demon Hunter put up more of her guard. **"You see, whatever Sakura knows, I know. And more."** The pinkette tapped her temple with the index finger of her free hand.

 **"Also, I know all about you Demon Hunters,"** the pinkette continued. **"In order to become one, ordinary humans must drink the blood of demons. Am I right?"** Ino narrowed her eyes slightly, gritting her teeth behind her lips. The demonic eyed girl's smile widened even more, knowing that she hit the bullseye. She then continued.

 **"But the ritual to become one is a dangerous thing,"** she said, the wicked, amused smiling never leaving her face. **"You can die from drinking it. It's all luck, which is actually funny really. But if you live through it, you gain a huge boost!**

 **"Your strength, speed, even your other senses are enhanced, like your sight and hearing. Hell, thanks to the demon blood that's running through your veins, you can even sense them as well."**

At this point of the conversation, one-sided as it was, Ino's gritted teeth were now visible, her brows furrowed and her nails were digging into her palms, breaking the skin. The girl in front of her was starting to irritate her and she had forgotten completely about the huge chakra from before.

Everything that the pink haired imitator was saying was right. To become a Demon Hunter you must drink the blood of a demon, and thanks to that, the blonde had seen so many of her friends, and people that she knew, die before her eyes. For the girl in front of her to say those things so casually, and with a smile on her face too, really pissed Ino off.

"Who the hell are you...?" Ino asked through clenched teeth, glaring at the person in front of her. "Why the hell do you know all that?"

 **"I've lived for a long time, Yamanaka,"** the girl said. **"I know that your clan, the Yamanaka, the Nara clan and the Akimichi clan have been allies for centuries and even till this day, you continue to exterminate the demons in secrecy. And as for my name..."** The girl that looked like Haruno Sakura, closed her eyes. **"You can call me Izanami."**

"Izanami...?" Ino repeated out loud to herself.

The girl named Izanami opened her eyes. **"That's right,"** she said. **"But I think that's enough talking."** Izanami lifted the scythe that her shoulder was supporting and placed it by her side instead, the sharp metal tip of the weapon touching the ground. **"How about we have a little fun,"** she suggested with that wicked grin.

Knowing what the pinkette meant, Ino shifted herself into a fighting stance. Now that it had slowly started to come to this, the blonde could once again feel the monstrous chakra that was coursing through Izanami's body. She knew the power difference between her and the Haruno impersonator, was huge. But she still had to try. Besides, she couldn't get away from this place. During the near one sided conversation, Ino had been trying her best to release herself from her technique, but to no avail. It looked like if she wanted to get out, she'd have to defeat the person in front of her.

With that thought in mind, Ino concentrated. She closed her eyes and stretched her left arm out, her fingers flexed outstretched. She begun to think about her weapon, her sword, Masamune. She thought about it's shape and it's weight. When she had a mental picture in her mind, she opened her eyes, and at the same time her demon hunting weapon materialized into her hands from cherry blossom petals.

Izanami's wicked smile grew even more, from ear to ear. **"That's it,"** she said, her tongue poking out from her mouth and licked her lips. **"Okay then. Let the fun commence!"** And as soon as those words left the girl's mouth, Izanami suddenly disappeared, and not even a split second she reappeared in front of the blonde, her scythe already up in the ready to strike.

Ino's eyes widened from the incredible speed that the demonic eyed girl possessed. She lifted her sword, which was still in it's sheath, and blocked the vertical strike that came from Izanami. As soon as both weapons connect to one another, it created a shockwave and in an instant, the concrete street behind Ino had been demolished.

 **"Ohhhh, still standing?"** Izanami spoke with a smirk, even Ino had to agree with her. The first strike felt heavy upon impact, and probably, if it wasn't for the fact that she was a Demon Hunter, that one strike would have killed her there and then. The pinkette began to chuckle. **"In that case have a bit more!"**

True to her word, Izanami lifted her scythe up once more, from the deadlock, and struck again. She then lifted it up again, and struck Ino the third time. She then struck a fourth time, and then a fifth. She continued to strike the blonde, wildly, with the same attack over and over, and to Ino it felt like each attack was getting heavier and faster each time. All she could do was stay still and take the blows that were being delivered upon her.

 _I've... got... to do... something...!_ Ino thought in between each strike. Her arms were starting to feel like lead from each attack and knew that she couldn't take much more. With that thought in mind, she decided to wait for her opportunity. When Izanami lifted up her her scythe, getting ready to strike once more, that was the blonde's chance.

She quickly stepped to the side, at the same time with scythe coming down upon her head, and managed to dodge the incoming blow. The sharp metal blade struck deep into the ground where the blonde had been standing and it was the chance that Ino had been waiting for. Not missing a beat, Ino gripped Masamune's hilt firmly, and swung her blade at the girl's now exposed neck, hoping to separate Izanami's head from her shoulders.

Just as the blade met the girl's exposed flesh, the pink haired imposter vanished into thin air. _W-What?!_ the blue eyed girl cried in her head.

 **"Be-hi-nd you..."**

Hearing a underwordly voice whisper behind her, a chill ran up and down Ino's spine, and she turned her head to look. But all she saw was a white, split toe sock with a waraji coming at her from the side and before she could even blink, it made contact with her face and she was flung, into the air like a rag doll, and crashed into one of the nearby buildings.

As dust started to cloud from the spot the blonde had landed from, Izanami took that time to grab her scythe, that was still sticking out from the ground, and took it out from it's concrete prison. She swung it once, getting any debris off of the sharp metal and placed it back on her shoulder. **"Is that it?"** she said, placing her free hand on the back of her neck and moving it side to side, the sound of bones popping back into place as she did so. **"How incredibly dull. I was expecting more from a Demon H-"**

Before she could finish her remark, something caught the corner of her eye. Her gaze turned to the dust cloud, and she saw something coming her way. When it sailed near her head, she noticed that it was a metallic object, a kunai to be exact, and at the end of it was a tag. A tag which was sizzling. In the next moment, Izanami's field of vision was surrounded by bright light, and then, an explosion followed straight after.

When the dust cloud began to settle, Ino slowly stood up, using the scabbard of her Masamune as a crutch and had started to breathe heavily. Crimson blood had started to leak down Ino's face, over her left eye, and a terrible headache had begun to assault her head. But she didn't care about her condition at the moment. All that mattered was what had happened to the demonic eyed girl after she threw her explosive kunai. With that thought in mind, she turned her blue orbs to wear Izanami had been standing before.

A smile had begun to form on her lips when she saw the huge smoke from the explosive. "How do... you like that...?" she asked in a whisper. When the smoke finally cleared up, however, the smile quickly disappeared. Izanami was standing there, scythe on her shoulder and a stoic expression on her face as her eyes were closed. Half of the torso part of the kimono was gone, most likely shredded from the explosion she had caused using the explosive kunai. But that was it. There was no injury. No markings. There was nothing to indicate that the explosive had done it's job.

 **"I'll admit, that was a good try,"** said the pinkette. She then opened her eyes, revealing demonic, golden-yellow orbs and stared at Ino with a smile back on her face. **"But unfortunately for you, you have to try harder than that."**

Ino narrowed her eyes as she was being mocked. She bared her gritted teeth and took to her fighting stance again. The next thing that Izanami did, however, confused the blonde. The scythe that was in her hand suddenly combusted into black flames and before long, the flames withered away, the scythe disappearing from her hand.

Before she could wonder what Izanami was doing, the girl herself ran forward with inhuman speed and before she could even say anything, she felt something hit her in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes widened and she looked down, only to see the pinkette's fist planted in her abdomen.

The blonde released her hold of her weapon and scabbard and opted to clutch her stomach once Izanami removed her fist. She then took a step forward, and then took another one. She took a few more, getting more space between her and the demonic eyed girl, and when she was far enough, the girl fell to her knees, beginning to cough.

 **"Such a disappointment,"** Izanami spoke, letting out a sigh afterwards. She slowly began to walk over towards the crouched teen who was still coughing up her guts. After Izanami took a several steps forward, all of a sudden she stopped. Her eyes widened slightly, as her body had suddenly became heavy and she couldn't move a muscle. **"W-What is this? Why can't I move?"** But the answer to her question was answered when she looked down, and understood.

It was her shadow. It was distorted and it was stretched. Stretched all the way towards the blonde's direction, and it was connected to her shadow. "Surprised?" the other girl spoke, causing Izanami to look up, demonic meeting blue orbs. There was a sheen of sweat forming on the girl's head but her lips were curved up into a smile. She slowly stood up and turned to face the pinkette.

"You were right," Ino continued. "The Yamanaka, Nara and the Akimichi have been allies for centuries. And because we have, we sometimes share a technique or two." Izanami's eyes narrowed, glaring at the blonde in front of her. "As you've probably guessed, this is the Nara's technique called Shadow Imitation." Saying that, Ino lifted up her arm and flexed her fingers, and in turn Izanami did the exact same thing. The pinkette looked at her arm that was raised and watched her own fingers move.

The blonde then moved her other hand, placing both of them in front of her, the pink haired girl doing the same thing, and began to do hand signs. "And this is another little technique that the Nara clan uses," the blonde said, finishing her hand signs. As she did, a shadowed hand had begun to emerge from the Izanami's shadow and slowly wrapped around her leg, which then went round her waist. "And this technique is called Shadow-Neck Binding."

The shadowed hand had now moved up to the other girl's chest, and slowly made it'a way to Izanami's throat. "It's over Izanami," Ino said, smiling confidently. "Once your gone, I can finally leave this place." With that, the shadow hand had made it's way to the girl's neck and began to squeeze, slowly...

...Or it should have done.

Ino's eyes widened as she realized that something was wrong. The shadow hand was just waiting on top of Izanami's throat and wasn't doing anything. _Why? Why isn't it working?!_

 **"Poor, poor Ino,"** Izanami spoke up, a mocking smile. **"And here you thought you had me."** At first, Ino didn't know what she meant, but when she saw the pinkette slowly begin to move her arms and hands, that was when she understood. The pinkette wasn't really trapped. She just been playing with her the whole time!

Izanami let out a quick shout and the shadow hand immediately withdrew from the pinkette's throat and retracted back to the shadow beneath her feet. The shout had let out a shockwave as well, which caused the blonde to fall back on her backside, her technique undone. When Ino looked up, after falling over, Izanami was already in front of her. The other girl reached out and grasped the collar of Ino's uniform shirt and was lifted up into the air.

 **"It was fun while it lasted,"** said Izanami, the blonde giving the girl a glare as she was dangling in the air. **"But it's time for the finale."** As soon as those words left her mouth, the girl's demonic eyes began to glow brightly and the tomoe marks that were surrounding cat-like slit of Izanami's pupils, began to move around in a circle.

Ino couldn't shift her gaze away from the rotating tomoe marks and for some reason, her vision began to blur. And, before she knew it, all she saw was darkness.

* * *

When she woke up, Ino awoke with a start. Her widened eyes looked around her surroundings, and she saw that she was still in the empty city of Konohagakure. _What happened?_ she asked in her thoughts. When she tried to move her body, she noticed that she couldn't. Looking, her eyes widened when she saw that her arms and legs were bound... on a crucifix.

"W-What's going on?!" Ino cried out in a panic. She struggled in vein, trying to get out of her restraints but with no succession.

 **"Awake are we?"**

A voice brought back Ino's attention and she gazed forward. On the ground was a swirling pool of darkness and coming from it was most likely the reason why she was on this crucifix. Izanami smiled up at Ino, her eyes amused of the spectacle in front of her.

"What's going on?!" she demanded to know. "Why am I on this thing?!"

 **"Didn't I already tell you? It's the finale,"** she said, swinging something small around with her pointer finger. The blonde saw that it was a kunai. **"I see that you've noticed."** The pinkette stopped spinning the small metallic object and grasped it firmly. **"I'll admit it's not my weapon of choice,"** she continued, walking toward the blonde, **"but for this, it will do."** She stopped just right in front of the bound up girl. Ino had a sick feeling in her stomach about what was going to happen next, but she couldn't help herself to asking the question.

"Do for what?"

Izanami smirk wickedly, and without saying anything, she thrust her hand with the kunai forward and into the blonde's left hand. Once again Ino's eyes widened and slowly, turned her gaze to her left. She saw the kunai pierce her hand deeply, as it poked through the other side and that was when her brain had caught up to what had just happened. Her blue orbs grew smaller as she saw blood beginning to seep through the wound and down her hand.

Pain, that she had never felt before, had suddenly assaulted her, and Ino let out a high pitch scream. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

The blonde then suddenly awoke again. Her breathing was heavy, like she just woken up in bed from a nightmare. She frantically looked at her surroundings and sure enough she was still in the empty streets of Konohagakure. He arms and feet were still bound by the crucifix she was on, and when she look at her left hand, Ino was surprised to see that there was no wound. _Was that an illusion?_ she thought. She could still feel the pain from the blade penetrating her hand, so she knew that it wasn't a nightmare. So why did the wound on her hand heal?

 **"How are you feeling?"** asked a very familiar underworldly voice. Ino shot a look at the smug smile that Izanami had on her face. Again she was swinging a kunai with her pointer finger.

"What's happening?!" she asked, slightly more desperate than demanding.

 **"Must I repeat myself?"** she asked cocking an eyebrow.

 **"It's the grande finale."**

The blonde had lost count at how many times her eyes had widened, but she couldn't help it this time. Ino turned to look to her right side and there she saw another set of demonic eyes and pink hair. There were now two them, and this one also had a kunai swinging from her pointer finger. What the hell was going on?!

 **"Awwwww, she looks terrified,"** the Izanami that just joined, spoke.

 **"I can't blame her really,"** said the other.

"Why?" Ino found herself asking. "Why are there now two of you?!"

 **"It's because you looked into my eyes,"** they both said in unison.

 **"And because you did,"** Izanami number one continued, **"you're now stuck here with me. Oh and one more thing. Time runs differently here. For every second that goes by in the Human Realm, is an hour in this place."** A chill ran down Ino's spine when she heard those words. That could only mean one thing. **"In other words, you're going to be here for a while,"** she cackled. Fear suddenly struck the blonde haired girl like a bolt of lightning, as she watched the two Izanami's make their way towards the her.

"W-Wait!" Ino cried out. "What are you going to-?!" Before she could finish her sentence, the two pinkette's thrust their kunais into both of the blonde's hands. She felt the cold metal blades penetrate her flesh once more and she let out another cry of pain, as hot crimson began to pour down her hands.

* * *

Yet again, Ino's eyes snapped wide open, her breathing heavier than the last time. She quickly check her hands, and sure enough again, they were healed, not even a scar was left behind.

 **"Hi~"**

For once in her life, Ino really wanted to cry. In fact, she could feel her eyes begin to water. Standing in front of her were now three, Izanami's. They all looked at her with amusement in their stares, like she was just a toy to play with. Without even saying a word, the three pinkette's made their way towards the blue eyed Demon Hunter. Two out the three went for the same place, Ino's hands, while the third went for somewhere different. She had thrust the dagger in the pony-tailed girl's abdomen, and instead of a scream, Ino let out a harsh gasp, blood coming out from her mouth.

When her eyes snapped open the fourth time, like the other three times, all her wounds were healed and addition Izanami was created. This happened over again and again, and again. Each time she came back, except for the new addition, the other demonic eyed girl's would stab the same place, while the new one would find somewhere else pierce.

When it came to the tenth time, Ino had begun to beg the pinkette to stop. Tears were falling from her eyes and down her cheeks as she wept, asking Izanami to kill her and end her suffering. But the girl laughed, as did the others, and it echoed in her head as they all continually stabbed the defenseless pony-tailed girl.

When it came to the twentieth time, Ino's eyes had lost their light. Her throat had become hoarse over the constant crying and begging she had been doing, but still to no avail. They continued to stab the girl, getting a kick out of it and there was nothing Ino could do except just let it happen. She had given up all hope.

* * *

She didn't know how long it had been since she came into this world, into Haruno Sakura's mind, and she had lost count on how many times she had been stabbed. But just by looking at the amount of Izanami's that were now surrounding her, she could only assume that it was a lot. She had long given up on the idea of getting out of here. The pain had started to become less painful, up to the point that she felt numb from the pain. One of the Izanami's, which Ino could only assume was the main one, let out a tired sigh.

 **"This is starting to get slightly boring now,"** she commented, inspecting her kunai. She held it for a few more moments, before she threw the thing away. **"I think it's about time to step it up."**

Putting her hand out, black flames suddenly engulfed Izanami's left demonic arm and it soon travelled to the palm of her hand and materialized her scythe. **"I wonder,"** she continued. **"If we sliced her into pieces, how much would that hurt... mentally?"** Those words brought life back into the blonde's blue orbs. Her ears then pick up on the voices of the other Izanami's that were around her, and one by one, they too summoned out a scythe.

 **"Oh, that's a good idea."**

 **"I wonder what her screams would sound like."**

 **"That idea sounds so exciting."**

After each little comment was made, another scythe would appear, until every single Izanami had one in hand. All their demonic gazes looked at Ino, their wicked smiles clearly visible on their faces, obviously enjoying their fun.

 _No... I don't want to die..._ Ino thought honestly. Even though she would be brought back again and again, she knew that she wouldn't be able to cope with all the trauma. She closed her eyes tightly, the water gathering up in her eyes as she did, and for the first time, in a long time, Ino prayed. She knew even that was pointless, but she had run out of things she could possibly think of. _Someone. Anyone. Please help me!_

That was when a spark flashed through the blonde Demon Hunter's mind and she sensed something coming this way, and the blonde opened her eyes. The Izanami's must have sensed something as well because they all seemed to had stopped. The power that she was sensing was coming from up above and she and all the copies looked up, only to see something come crashing down near the speed of sound. All the pinkette's jumped away, and the moment they did, the thing that came down landed in front of the blonde, a dust covered cloud filling the area.

Ino began to cough as some of the dust had landed in her face, entering through her nose and mouth. When it finally cleared up, the blue eyed girl saw someone that shouldn't have been possible to see.

Very familiar pink hair, and wearing the uniform of Konoha High School for Girls. A gauzed wrapped left arm that held a blue tinted, silver metal scythe. The person was none other than pink haired girl herself.

 _Haruno Sakura!_

* * *

 **And there you have it, another chapter done and dusted and I really hope that you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **T** **hanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	22. Buying for time, Sakura vs Izanami!

**Hey guys,** **I hope you all are having, or had, a good day** **and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love. First off, the thanks.**

 **-Brit0114 (For following and favouriting this story)**

 **Reviews:**

 **-CaptainJack.S - Again, really happy and glad that you are enjoying the story, and I can only hope that you continue to do so. People like you and KitsuneGirl1994 are what keeps me going in writing this.**

 **-Rigar93 (For chapter 9 review) - I'm seriously glad that you impressed by that chapter and glad that was the chapter you were waiting for. Yes, I do apologise for the repetitiveness of my writing. I can only hope I can get better at not doing that so often. Fingers crossed.**

 **Before we begin the story I'd like to say something first. After this chapter, I'm going to go and look up on how to write fighting scenes fighting scenes. Because I know for a fact that I'm absolutely crap at doing them, which you'll probably read in a moment. So I only ask that you bear with me on it. Pretty please.**

 **And I would also like to point out the reason why this story will be long. The reason is that I want to introduce characters, like Ino, into this story because they will have a role to play when it comes to the main event of the this story. So I want to thank people, who are still reading this, for putting up with this. I really do appreciate it.**

 **Anyway, enough from me. I hope you enjoy!**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

 _Haruno Sakura!_

It couldn't have been her. It was impossible. While under the Mind Switch Body Technique, the person who's body is being used should be unconscious somewhere else in the person's mind. Yet here she was, standing in front of her. Facing Izanami, her doppelgänger, with her back straight, and her gauze wrapped hand holding tightly onto her scythe. Just who the hell was this girl really?

 **"I'm so glad you could finally make it Sakura,"** Izanami said, bringing Ino out of her thoughts. She was smiling that all to familiar wicked smile and even though Ino had seen so many times, for how long she couldn't tell because this world's time was distorted, it still sent a chill down the blonde's spine. **"But couldn't you have been just a little bit later? I was about to do something fun with Yamanaka."**

But Sakura neither replied nor said a word. Instead, she closed her eye and let out a sigh of annoyance and placed her scythe on her shoulder. Then, she turned on her heel and faced the girl on the crucifix. When emerald met sky blue, Ino cleared the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. The pinkette's face was stoic, showing (or wanting to show) complete calmness. But her one eye was the complete opposite. To put it lightly, she looked really peeved.

The pinkette raised her free hand and placed a slender finger on the blonde's forehead. "Release," the girl said, and for the Demon Hunter it felt like she had woken up from a bad dream. She found herself on the concrete floor of the empty street. The crucifix that she had been on moments ago had disappeared and the crowd of Izanami's had been reduced to only the original. She could also feel the blood that was on her face, from the injury she had sustained from her fight with the demonic eyed psycho.

"Thanks Haruno-san," Ino said giving her gratitude, standing up on wavering legs.

The one eyed emerald girl just turned back to face the other pinkette, putting her little finger into her ear. "Don't thank me just yet. We're not out of the woods," she said. "Besides, I'm still really pissed off about you trying to take control of my body." Sakura then turned her her head slightly so that she could see the girl behind her with the corner of her eye. "So when we get out of here, I owe you a punch in the face."

"But that's _if_ we can get out of here," said Ino, earning a cocked eyebrow from the pink haired girl. "I had been trying for a while before, but I couldn't leave." The Demon Hunter then turned her gaze to the ever smiling Izanami. Again that spine chilling smile made her want to look away, but her pride refused it. "She's most likely the reason why I can't."

"So what are you saying then?" Sakura asked.

"What I'm saying is that we need to divert her attention somehow," Ino continued. "Then maybe, and this is just me theorising, I can gather all the remaining chakra that I have and undo my technique."

Sakura turned her body around and gave the girl a quizzical look. "Chakra...?"

"Why do you sound surprised?" the blonde asked in wonder. She then thought for a moment. "Don't tell me you don't know what chakra is?" The blank stare that the blonde recieved from the Haruno girl told her all she needed to know. "Really?!" she exclaimed. "You're a Demon Hunter, but you don't know what chakra is?"

The pinkette looked at the blonde with mild annoyence. _Does she really still think that I'm a Demon Hunter?_ Then again, she hasn't really told her that she wasn't one, even though technically she does kill them. The blonde must have probably took the pinkette's silent thoughts as a sign, because she continued to talk.

"Chakra...?" the girl repeated. "The natural life of energy in all living things. Everybody has it in them but only a select few a can use it, people like us. Really, how did you not know that?"

Sakura just mentally shrugged her shoulders. Up until this point, she had always called it demonic energy or presence, or just energy when it came to humans. At least she knew there was a name for it now. The pinked haired girl turned on her heel and was once again faced Izanami. "Oi, Yamanaka," Sakura called out. "How long would you need?"

"W-what?" the girl stuttered, surprised by the sudden topic change. When she gathered her thoughts and returned to the task at hand, she gave out her reply. "Maybe about ten, fifthteen minutes tops. As long as I don't lose concentration."

"Okay. You've got a few minutes," Sakura told her, before she started to make her way towards her opponent.

"Only a few mintues?!" the blonde exclaimed, not believing what she was hearing. "But that's too short! There's no way I could do it in time!"

Sakura stopped in her tracks and there was a long pause. "Then you'd best get started then, huh?" said Sakura before she continued to make her way toward the psychotic, demon eyed girl.

 _You idiot!_ Ino cursed in her thoughts, as she watched the pinkette make her way toward Izanami. She wanted to tell her that there might have been another way (even though she knew deep down that there wasn't), but she decided against it. There wasn't much time, and like the pink haired idiot said, she had to get started right away if she only had a few minutes. With that thought in mind, Ino sat down on her knees and began to perform hand signs. Once that was done, she then began to concentrate all of her remaining chakra and could only pray that this plan worked.

 _Don't you dare die, Billboard Brow!_

* * *

For every step she took toward the demon eyed girl, the heavier they got. This was the second time that she had seen Izanami, face to face, but it would be the first for the pinkette to fight her. And just from the demonic energy, or chakra as Ino-pig had put it, which was literally pouring out of her, she knew that she wasn't ready for a fight this big. _Maybe a few minutes was too much_ she thought. If the girl was honest, she'd probably only last a few seconds if she wasn't careful.

 **"So, Sakura, have you come to face me?"** Izanami spoke, Sakura stopping were she was, a few yards away from each other. The pinkette narrowed her eyes at the demonic figure that's normally inside of her, Izanami chuckling when she did. **"You know Sakura? Even though you look calm and collected, I really know that your not."** Izanami then closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose.

 **"I can smell it you know. Your fear,"** she continued. **"I know that your heart is beating loudly and hard within your chest. I can feel your gaze on me wavering."** She then reopened her eyes and her demonic orbs looked into Sakura's one emerald pool with confidence. And if the pinkette was honest with herself, she had every right to be.

She _was_ afraid of the girl in front of her and her heart _was_ beating loud and hard, so much so that had begun to hurt her chest. Sakura hated the fact that this person knew her more than she knew herself. And which was why she asked the question that she wanted answering, ever since she first saw the demonic eyed girl back at that park.

"Who are you?" she asked, earning an amused hum and cocked eyebrow. "Just who the hell are you? What are you? Why are you inside of me?!"

 **"There, there Sakura,"** Izanami said, speaking to the pinkette like someone would do to a child having a temper tantrum. **"You'll find out soon enough. In fact, if I know _'Him'_ , then that time will soon be upon us."**

 _Him?_

 **"But I think that's enough chit chat,"** Izanami then swung her scythe to the side, taking her fighting stance, which looked to be like a relaxed posture. Just from that alone, Sakura knew that she wasn't been taking her as a serious threat. But that was okay for her. She wasn't fighting to win. She only needed to survive long enough for the blonde haired Demon Hunter to undo whatever technique she did to her.

 _In that case_ Sakura thought. I _guess I need to go full power straight from the start!_ Coming to that conclusion, the pinkette moved her arm, which held the scythe, and pointed it toward her 'other self'. She could feel the power begin to flow through her body. The other pinkette chuckled under her breath, probably knowing what Sakura was planning to do.

 **"I see,"** Izanami said. **"So that's how it's going to be. In that case, I'll do the exact same thing."** Saying that, Izanami, too, raised her scythe and pointed toward Sakura. Now it was the one eyed girl's turn to feel power coming from the other pink haired girl. Her chakra was completely different than hers and knew she didn't stand a ghost of a chance, but she wasn't going to back down now. So, with a loud voice, she cried out a name that would give her power. And more importantly, buy her enough time.

"IZANAMI!"

* * *

As Ino was concentrating her chakra, she was suddenly hit by a strong, forceful wind. The blonde used her arms to protect her face, but when she looked through the gap, between her arms, she forgot all about it and lowered them. She stared at amazement of the two towering infernos of black flame and the chakra that was coming out of them was not of this world. The wind coming from it was that strong and forceful, the buildings that were around the pillars of black fire were beginning to crumble and the debris was blown off into the distance.

She didn't know how long it was, but the black flamed pillars soon started to shrink, until they were human sized, the wind dying down also. Soon enough, even the flames dissipated, and what was left behind made even Ino's eyes go wide. Sakura's entire attire had changed, her school uniform being replaced with a kimono similar to Izanami's; same colour, same design. Over the kimono, she wore a long, defined, robe-like overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flared out into ragged ends and had white lining and a hood.

The other pinkette was wearing the same overcoat and her power had tripled, no, had increased ten fold than what it was before. Had she used that during their fight, there would be no doubt in Ino's mind that she would not have survived. She would literally been an ant being stood upon by a boot, helpless.

 _What the hell is going on?!_ she asked in her mind. She had never seen or felt something of this magintude before. That was when the blonde shook her head, berating herself. _Now isn't the time!_ She didn't have the time to be gawking at the sight before her. Right now, the pinkette was trying to buy her time, time that she desperately needed.

So, trying to ignore what was going on in front of her, Ino went back to her concentration, while in the back of her mind she prayed that everything would turn out all right.

* * *

Sakura narrowed her eyes, whilst Izanami narrowed her's in amusement. The pinkette wasn't really surprised that the other girl could change into the same thing she was. After all, and as far as Sakura knew, this was her power to begin with.

 **"So then,"** Izanami began, swinging her scythe to side once more. **"Shall we dance, Sakura?"**

If there was any sign to start, it was then. Once Izanami finished speaking, crouched down slightly and sprang at the other girl. Thanks to her demonic form, her speed had increased and she was instantly on top of demonic eyed girl. She twisted her body once, twice and then three times before she swung her scythe in a horizontal arc. The metal blade of her weapon met the polearm of Izanami's scythe and when the two weapons clashed, it created a shockwave. All the glass windows of the surrounding buildings that remained standing and cars, were completely shattered.

Izanami's lips curved to the side in a smirk, and when she saw that, pushed against the deadlock between them. She jumped back, back-flipped away from her enemy, and as soon as Sakura landed she went at the other girl immediately, assaulting her with a flurry of attacks.

She went in for the thrust, aiming for the demonic eyed girl's face, and following it with a diagonal slice going downward. Izanami dodged the first by shifting her head and met the second strike with her own scythe, parrying it. When Sakura went in for the third slash, the other girl jumped, far away, the pinkette's blue tinted blade hitting nothing but air.

Oh no you don't! Seeing her opponent leaving, Sakura gave chase. As she did though, she didn't miss the small grin that spread on her other self's lips and before she knew it, she saw Izanami's scythe being thrown at her. Not expecting that sort of attack, Sakura stopped in her tracks and swung her sharp tipped weapon at the approaching projectile, watching as the scythe was now flying away.

 **"Don't get distracted now!"**

Before Sakura could even face back at Izanami, a fist had landed in her face. The demon girl hit the ground once, bounced and hit the ground twice befor she managed to get her balance again and stand, skidding the rest of the way. Once there was a huge distance between them, pain had suddenly started to assault the area that the other girl had hit. It felt like she had been hit by a ton of bricks and even wodnered if some of her skeletal structure had been fractured.

Ignoring the pain for now, Sakura glared at the girl across from her. She still had that wicked smile on her face, and began to do a hand gesture which basically told the pinkette to 'come at her'. She knew that was just a lure, just something to push her buttons. But unfortunately it worked.

Again Sakura charged in, swinging her scythe at Izanami as soon as she was close enough. However, her attack got nothing but the air around her as the other pinkette easily ducked the swing. Not long after, she suddenly felt a fist land in the pit of her stomach, and almost immediately she wanted to vomit. As Sakura lerged forward, Izanami then used the heel of her palm and thrusts it up, under the one eyed girl's chin, causing her head to snap back.

Izanami wasn't finished just yet. She quickly got behind Sakura and proceeded to use her elbow to strike against the back of the pinkette's neck. Her eyes widened from the pain and she let out a short gasp, before she began to lean forward again. She didn't get very far though. When Sakura's face was about to meet the hard concrete, Izanami grasped the ragged end of Sakura's overcoat.

 **"How about I take you for a spin!"** Izanami cried out happily. Having a firm grasp of her target, and using the heel of her foot, the demonic eyed girl started to swing Sakura around in a circle. **"Around, and around and around we go!"** She spun, faster and faster, until they were near enough she a blur of black and pink. **"Have a nice trip!"** Once those words left her mouth, Izanami released her hold of her captive and watched as Sakura flew into a building, and because the throw was that strong and fast, the pinkette flew into another building and then another one.

* * *

Ache. Ache. Ache. That was all Sakura could feel at the moment. She didn't really count how many buildings that she had been thrown into, but from the way her body was crying out to her in pain, it was plenty. But Sakura knew that she couldn't just stop moving. She needed to get up.

All of a sudden, a shadow had loomed over Sakura and when her emerald gaze turned to look, there she saw Izanami. Just by looking into those demonic orbs and seeing that wicked smile, the pinkette knew that this was far from over. Leaning forward, Izanami grasped Sakura's pink locks and pulled her up. Surprisingly enough she couldn't feel the pain of her hair being pulled and she was now left dangling in the air. When a **"Hmph"** escaped the girl's throat, she the pinkette into one of the buildings that she had smashed into, face-down.

 **"I have to admit, I was expecting more from you, Sakura,"** said Izanami, making her way toward the downed girl. When she was standing next to her, she used her foot to turn the pinkette's body around. Sakura's emerald eye was only half-lidded as she gazed into her other self's golden-yellow orbs. **"Even that Yamanaka girl lasted longer than you did."**

Izanami then let out a sigh of disappointment and her scythe materialized, reappearing in her left demonic hand. She then placed the sharp edge of the blade near Sakura's throat and the girl herself didn't try to do anything as there was no point. She had a lost this fight and from the looks of things, it didn't look like that she bought enough time.

 **"But you don't have to worry,"** Izanami continued. **"Once you're gone, I'll be taking over your body."** The demonic eyed girl's eyes narrowed and her smile grew impossibly more. Something in the back of Sakura's mind was nagging at her. Whatever Izanami was going to say next, she wasn't going to like.

 **"And once I'm in the human world, I'll wreak havoc upon it. Killing anyone and everyone standing in my way. And I would start it all off... with your precious Hinata-chan..."**

Sakura's blood went cold at that moment, frozen even, as her one eye widened in shock. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. _Hi...na...ta...?_

 **"I could actually hear her now,"** says Izanami, chuckling to herself. **"Her cries. Her begging for you to come back. Pleading for me to stop."**

 _BA-DUMP... BA-DUMP..._

Went the sound of the pinkette's heart. In her mind the image of the ravenette crumbled on the floor with tears in her eyes and her body riddled with gashes from her scythe, a pool of blood beneath her, broke her in a way that no one would be able to explain. But thanks to that, her blood that had been cold only a moment ago was now growing hot.

 **"Or maybe, I should kill everyone she cares about first. And slowly watch her become a living corpse, making her lose the will to live and ultimately killing her on the inside!"**

 _BA-DUMP... BA-DUMP..._

 **"Or maybe, before all that, I should have fun with her. Let her enjoy pleasure before I take her life away. Oooooohhhh, the possibilities are endless! And the only thing standing in my way is you."** With that said, Izanami lifted her scythe up toward the ceiling of the building they were in. **"It's been fun, Sakura. But now it's my time to come out. Goodbye..."** And with that out of the way, the demonic pinkette swung down her sharp tipped weapon, ending the fight.

 _...GRAB!_

But a white gauzed hand stopped the scythe from reaching it's destination. "...won't let you..." whispered Sakura, tightening her grasp around the cold metal weapon. The scythe's blade was digging into the pinkette's hand, causing it to cut through the light material and into her palm, drawing blood. Sakura's bangs shadowed her emerald eye, so Izanami couldn't tell what kind of expression she was making. But then again, she didn't need to. The small rubble and debris that was surrounding them, had begun to float and streams of darkness had started to come out from within the pinkette.

"I won't let you..." Sakura continued, slightly louder this time. "I refuse to let that happen..." The pinkette looked up, her gaze meeting demonic orbs and for once, Izanami looked serious, her brows furrowed. The medical eye-patch, that was covering Sakura's left eye, had suddenly been engulfed in flames and was burnt to ash. Her now exposed demonic eye was glowing brightly, liquid crimson had started to pour out of it's socket and it's sclera had turned from it's original white, to the darkest black.

"I won't let you touch her..." says Sakura, as she slowly pushed against Izanami's scythe, away from her face. "I WON'T LET YOU HURT HINATA!" Screaming out her declaration, Sakura's arm left arm was completely engulfed in black flames. The pinkette slowly made herself stand up, while pushing back the demonic eyed girl back in the process.

Finally, after she was standing on her two feet, Sakura glared at the girl in front of her and almost immediately pushed the scythe she was holding to the side. And with that out of the way, Sakura's black flamed hand closed into a fist and thrust it forward, toward Izanami. It was fast and strong, and when it connected to the other girl's face, she was sent flying back.

After smashing into a few buildings herself and was outside again, Izanami managed to right herself, her waraji footwear skidding to a halt and looked back up. Through the massive holes, the girl could see Sakura standing there, her left arm completely shrouded in flames. The flames themselves began to extend in front of her palm, morphing into a black flamed scythe. And then suddenly, she vanished. But not a moment later did Izanami jump away from the spot she was currently at, and watched a building that was behind her get sliced in half.

The upper part of the building had collapsed, due to the lack of support, while lower part was surrounded in black flame. Standing where Izanami was originally was Sakura. The girl turned her head to where the demonic eyed girl was now standing and Izanami could see the rage in her emerald and demonic orbs. Izanami visibly smiled. This was what she had been waiting for since their fight had started. A challenge. Someone who could probably go toe to toe with her.

Seeing that her attack missed it's target, Sakura turned her body so that she was now facing the other girl. Pain had suddenly started to assault her head, and her vision had begun to distort itself. But she knew why. Sakura had promised herself that she wouldn't use Amatarasu again, as it put too much strain on her. But this was the only way that she could be in equal footing with the pure demon girl in front of her. Which was why she needed to end this, now, before it was too late.

Besides, she was definately going to make Izanami pay for saying those things about Hinata.

So, not wasting more time that was absolutely necessary, Sakura charged in. Once close, she attacked with a horizontal spin, to which Izanami raised her weapon, ready to deflect the strike. But just as scythe and scythe would meet, Sakura disappeared.

 **"Wha-?!"** was all Izanami could get out before she felt something strike her back, going in a diagonal arc. Turning to look, she saw the pinkette behind her. She galred at her and went in for a strike of her own, but only to hit nothing but emptiness. That was when she felt another strike to her back, this time going in the other direction.

The same thing happened again, only this time, Sakura reppeared at the front. She swung her black flamed scythe diagonally, from Izanami's hip to her shoulder, leaving a trail of flames on the girl's body. This happened again, and again, and again. When Sakura struck for the last time, she jumped back, away from the other girl and looked at her sorry state. She was covered in black flame markings but her glare was still strong.

 **"Damn you... Sakura..."** Izanami said, taking a step forward. But that step was her last.

Sakura's demonic eye began to glow brightly as she spoke the word, "Amatarasu!" and in a blink of an eye, Izanami's body was engulfed in black flames. The pinkette could hear the high pitched scream of the other girl, as she was burning alive from Amatarasu's power.

While she was burning, Sakura let out a few deep breaths and released her demonic form, putting her back into her school uniform. She went down on her knees and sat on them, watching Izanami burn with her own power. It's over Sakura thought, letting out a sigh. She was completely spent, but hopefully she had brought enough time for Ino to undo her technique.

 **"Hehehe..."**

Sakura's eyes widened from the sound of that familiar chuckle and quickly looked up. The flames of Amatarasu were still there, surrounding the person she had just defeated. But in the next moment, the flames were extinquished. What was left behind made Sakura's skin crawl.

Izanami, who should have been burnt alive, was standing there, leering at the pinkette with her creepy smile. The worst part, which made her skin crawl, was the fact that there was nothing on her. Even her clothes, besides the upper part that was damaged already, were still completely intact.

 **"Surprised?"** Izanami asked, moving her head side to side, the sound of things popping back into her neck. **"It was a very good effort, I'll admit. But unfortunately for you, Amatarasu would never work on me."** To prove her point, she said the name out loud and just like Sakura, Izanami's eyes began to glow brightly and her left arm suddenly combusted into black flames.

 **"As you can see, it would have never have worked,"** she continued, the flames last for a second longer before they disappeared. **"I'll also admit, for the those few minutes back there, you really had me. It was quite exciting to be honest. So as thanks, I'll end this with something special."**

All of a sudden, a blue spark flickered on Izanami's fingertips. It happened so fast that Sakura nearly missed it, but not a second later it happened again. It flickered a few more times before finally, her whole right hand, and her lower arm, was encased by lightning. The concentration of chakra, that Izanami was using, was that high, it had started to produce a sound reminiscent of many birds chirping.

 **"Chidori..."**

Just from saying that name, it looked like the lightning surrounding her hand grew and the noise coming from it increased. Sakura could feel a lot of energy, a lot of chakra, being poured into her hand. Chidori...? So Izanami still had one more thing up her sleeve, which really didn't surprise the pinkette.

"Now then Sakura," Izanami continued. "Why don't you be a good girl, stay still." The other pinkette then leapt forward, heading straight for Sakura, and as she did, the ground beneath her became rubble from Chidori's power.

Sakura could only watch as Izanami approached her. She couldn't move. She had used all her power up on her last attempt at taking down the demonic eyed girl, but to no avail. Maybe this time, Sakura won't come out on top. So far, she has been able to overcome demons at the last moment, like the reddish pink demon and the white skinned fiend. But this time it looked like her luck ran out. So now, Sakura could only watch and wait for her end to come.

* * *

"I've done it!"

It had taken awhile, but Ino had managed to make Sakura's strict deadline. Not wasting time, she started to make new hand signs, as fast as she possibly could, and when she was finished, she put her hands together again, letting all the chakra she had gathered out at once.

"Release!"

* * *

 **"DIE!"**

Izanami thrust her hand, containing her Chidori, forward, aiming for the girl who was crouched down and who looked like she had given up. She was close. She was so very close to getting out of the pinkette's mind and out into the real world. They were only a few feet away now and victory was almost within Izanami's grasp.

Just as her Chidori was about to impale the other girl, Sakura suddenly disappeared from her line of sight, which caused her eyes to widen. Her attack hit the ground instead and it caused a dust covered cloud to shoot up into the air and surround the demonic eyed girl.

It looked like her freedom would have to wait.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan, open your eyes!"

Hinata's mind was in a mess, and she couldn't understand what was going on. Right now Sakura was lying unconscious in her arms and no matter how much she cried out her name, she didn't wake up. It was only a few minutes ago that the girl was having her match against Yamanaka Ino, and looked to be winning. But then, the blonde rolled away, doing some hand signs as she was crouched down, and in the next moment, Sakura charged at her. And just as her weapon was about to reach the blonde, she suddenly stopped moving.

When the pinkette collapsed after that, everything else was a blur. Before she knew it, she instantly ran towards the pair of girls and brought the pinkette in her arms. In the background, the ravenette could hear the other girls talking. They were saying things like, "What happened?" or "Are they alright?" but Hinata ignored it all. All she cared about right now was Sakura, and _only_ Sakura.

All of a sudden, the Hyūga girl heard the sound of someone shuffling, but it wasn't from the girl she was hoping it would be. Instead, it was the blonde Demon Hunter, Yamanaka Ino, and when her eyes opened, she shot up. She looked around her surroundings, with wide eyes, and then began to touch her body, then her face.

"I'm back," she whispered. Hinata had no idea what she meant by that, but she didn't have time to find out, or frankly care. Almost as soon as the blonde had awoke, did she feel something stir within her arms. She looked down and her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw Sakura's eye slowly open, albeit half-lidded.

"What...?" she said. "Am I...?"

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, relief washing over her. "You're awake! I'm so glad."

The girl's emerald orb turned to look into Hinata's pools of white. "Hinata..." she called out. Her voice was horse, like she hadn't used it for a long time. A small smile then appeared on her face, her one eye beginning to close once more. "I'm... back..."

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata called out to the pinkette, worry starting to take over quickly. "Sakura-chan?!" A hand was then suddenly placed on the ravenette's shoulder and she looked up. Her eyes had begun to tear up, causing her vision to blur, but she knew that it was Tenten standing next to her. She had been so worried about Sakura that she didn't realise that her best friend was there."Tenten, she's-!"

"Shh, it's alright Hinata," she told her, trying to calm her best friend down. "She's just asleep. I have no idea what happened, but she looks completely exhausted." Hearing that, the ravenette turned back to look at the pinkette and sure enough, her breaths were even, indicating that she was indeed asleep.

"I see," she said, relieved once more.

"Come on," Tenten urged. "Let's take her to nurse's office and let Kurenai-sensei look her over." Hinata gave a nod in agreement and she, Tenten and another girl helped the pinkette up and made there way towards the doors of the gym, all the while a certain blonde haired girl watched on, her eyes never leaving the unconscious girl as she left through the double doors.

* * *

Izanami continued to stand in the empty streets of her Konohagakure, that was now almost rubble from her Chidori's power. Her demonic orbs where looking at where Haruno Sakura had been before she disappeared, escaping this place.

She let out a long heavy sigh and clicked her tongue in annoyance. **"Looks like they got away,"** she commented to herself, kicking the rubble beneath her feet. **"All well, there's always next time."** The pinkette suddenly then felt a familiar presence coming from behind her and a smug smile grew on her face.

 **"Did you enjoy the show?"** she asked before she turned her head.

A young woman with fair skin, who couldn't have been more in her late twenties, was standing behind Izanami, wearing a bright white gown that went all the way to the ground. She had dark blue hair, similiar hair colour to Hyūga Hinata's, which extended down to her hips, and chin-length strands that framed her face. The emerald orbs that she possessed looked into Izanami's own demonic orbs with gentleness.

The demon girl hated this woman. Hated her with a passion. And if she could, she would have killed her there and then. But unfortunately she couldn't. Even though she looked like a frail woman, she was indeed in fact, very strong.

"Don't you think that was a bit much, Izanami?" the woman asked, her voice gentle and caring, like she was speaking to a child. Like she knew that the demon girl in front of her wasn't a threat. Even though that was actually the truth of it.

Not being able to look at the woman any longer, Izanami turned her gaze away. **"Hmph, does it matter?"** she asked rhetorically. **"She escaped didn't she? So she's safe... for now."** The girl then turned her head back to the woman, her wicked smile reappearing and her eyes narrowed. **"But the next time we meet... I'll be one getting out of here."**

The woman closed her eyes. "Maybe," she said, "maybe not." She then reopened her eyes. "But right now is not the time." She then reached out with her arm, her palm facing the demonic eyed girl and her hand began to glow. Izanami knew what was happening and looked down. Sure enough, there was a pool of darkness under her waraji sandals and she slowly began to descend into it's depths.

"Rest Izanami," she said, her eyes still showing the kindness that Izanami despised so very much.

 **"You know that you can't protect her forever,"** Izanami spoke, her legs now in the pool of darkness. **"The more she uses my power, the stronger I become. And more of a chance of me taking her over."** The woman continued to remain silent as she watched the girl sink further, listening to what she had to say.

 **"And even _if_ I fail that,"** she continued, her chest now slowly sinking in, **" _'He'_ will definitely come for her. And when it happens, all you'll be able to do is watch. It's only a matter of time."** With those words, Izanami began to chuckle, which soon evolved into a cackle, as she finally disappeared in the the pool of darkness.

The fair skinned woman lowered her hand, which then closed off the place that Izanami went through, and let out a little sigh. "I know," she said. "But until that day comes, I'll protect her." She then gave a quick shake of her head. "No. Not just her." The woman then started to glow brightly before she too disappeared from the empty streets.

 _I'll protect them_ both _..._

* * *

 **And there we go, another chapter finished. I'm thinking after this chapter, there will be two more chapters (max. 3) of Ino's arc before I move on to the next part. And like I said before, thanks to those people who have put up with this long story so far. Even if there is only one person who still reads this, I'll be happy and carry on.**

 **And also, as you've probably read, I still need to practice my fight scenes and many other things. So please leave a review and tell me** **anything that can help improve the story or my writing.** **Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **T** **hanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	23. The Search for Answers

**Hey guys and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. Sorry for being a little late (even though I haven't got a set schedule). I've been ill for the past few days so it's slowed me down quite a bit. But I'm back now and everything is all right. Now then, let's get on with the thanks.**

 **-Clockwork Dreamer (Follow)  
-AngelsListener (Favourite & Follow)  
-RamzaJinnRuu (Favourite)**

 **Reviews:**

 **-animefangirl4.799 - Here you go. You wanted more, here it is. Hope you enjoy.**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

In and out. In and out. Hinata could only watch as Sakura was only doing those two things, laying in one of the beds in the nurse's office. It had been almost an hour since she, Tenten and another student had taken her here and school was well finished by now. Tenten had offered to stay with her, but she kindly declined the offer, telling her that she'd be fine by herself and told the brunette to go on ahead.

The sound of the office's door, opening and closing, went through the ravenette's ears and she turned to look. It was Yūhi Kurenai, and she had her hand on her hip, looking at Hinata with a confused look.

"My, you're still here Hyūga-san?" she asked the girl in surprise. Hinata simply nodded her head and turned her gaze back to the girl in the bed. The teacher smiled, even though the younger girl couldn't see it, and made her way towards the bed the pinkette was lying on. She peered at the girl.

"She looks much better than when she first came in here," the nurse commented, placing her hand on the girl's forehead. "And she doesn't have a fever of any kind. So I'd say she'll be fine." The red eyed woman then set her eyes on the Hyūga girl. "Why don't you take a little walk, stretch you're legs and get some fresh air?"

From that suggestion, Hinata shook her head side to side. "I want to be here when she wakes up," she said.

Kurenai was about to protest, say something that a teacher would say in this sort of situation, but when she saw both the girl's hands clasping the sleeping girl's, taking out from within the cover, she stopped herself. Instead of a lecture, she smiled, and went to grab her chair that was near her desk. With it, she sat down next to the ravenette and spoke to her in a gentle voice, trying to not startle her.

"Hyūga-san," she said, "can I ask you something?" The girl reluctantly teared her eyes away from Sakura and white pools met red. "Are you... in love with Haruno-san?" The younger girl's eyes widened from those words, and her cheeks instantly went red.

"I-I... Well..." the girl stuttered, trying to come up with something to say.

"It's alright," Kurenai reassured, "you can tell me. Haruno-san is fast asleep so it's just the two of us here." Hinata's gaze turned away from the older woman, looking at the floor for a moment, before she returned her white gaze to the girl with the cherry blossom name. After a beat, the girl gave Kurenai a nod, indicating she was right.

She had a good feeling really. The way she had come into her office, with Hiramatsu and another student. Tears had been storing up in her eyes, trying her best to not cry. And now, seeing the way that she was holding on to pinkette's hand with a slight tremble that you could easily miss if you didn't look hard enough.

"I see," she said. There was a long pause. "Have you told her yet?" When the girl shook her head again, there was complete silence.

"Is it strange?" Hinata asked, breaking the quietness of the room, her eyes still on the sleeping girl. Kurenai gave the ravenette a quizzical look. "For a girl to fall in love with another girl?" When the question was asked, Hinata was, again, met with only silence. A long silence with no reply. _Maybe it is strange after all..._

"I don't see anything wrong with it," was what the nurse said. Hinata's eyes widened, not expecting that sort of response and turned to look at the older woman. "You love who you love. You can't stop your heart from doing that." Kurenai then smiled. "I was the same when I was you're age."

"You were?" asked the ravenette, to which the woman nodded.

"Back when I was in high school, there was an upperclassman that I liked very much," she began, sitting up in her chair, crossing her arms and legs and gazed out the window. "I was only into men back then, but thanks to her, that all changed.

"She was beautiful. Intelligent. All the boys in school were gawking at her and I lost count how many had confessed to her, only for them to be turned down," Kurenai continued. "I remember that I was jealous of her. Jealous of the fact that she had all of the boys looking at her. So I decided to confront her about it... And that's when I found out about it."

"Found out about what?" Hinata found herself asking.

"I found out the reason why she refused all those confessions from those boys," Kurenai said, then turned to Hinata with a smile. "It was because that she only liked girls." The ravenette's eyes widened even more, surprised from that outcome.

"That was the same look I gave her when she told me." Hearing that, Hinata looked away and a blush stained her cheeks from being caught by her embarrassing expression. "I didn't know what to say back then, so I remained quiet. And she must have took my silence as something because she suddenly prostrated herself in front of me.

"She begged me not to tell anyone, her voice choking when she asked me that. And did you know what I said?" The girl shook her head. "I promised her that I wouldn't, and the look she had on her face, after I told her that, made my cheeks heat up and my heart skip a beat. She smiled, like I had never seen before, and hugged me tightly, thanking me over and over again. And on that day, we became quick friends.

"FRom that day on, we hung out together, went shopping, looked at all the cute things that the stores had. And I realized that the more I hung out with her, the more that I started to feel weird. Every time she casually held my hand to take me to other places, my chest would tighten. When she hugged me, my heart would swell with warmth. And little by little, I soon realised that I was slowly falling in love with her."

"So what did you do?" the ravenette asked again, her grip never leaving the pinkette's hand. Even though she was invested in her teacher's story, she was still aware of Sakura. "Did you tell her how you felt about her?" Kurenai smiled at Hinata, but the answer she gave was not what the ravenette was expecting.

"I never did," she replied. "I was scared. Scared about being rejected by her, so I kept it quiet. I didn't want to ruin what we had then, and worse, make things awkward between us." There was a short pause, the red eyed woman letting out short sigh. "That's what I thought... then."

"Then..?" Hinata repeated.

"It was at her graduation. After months of agonising it, I couldn't keep my feelings to myself any more," Kurenai closed her eyes, hiding any emotion that was being shown in them and stood up. She walked up to her window and put her hands inside her coat's pockets. The setting sun's rays made the older woman's hair glow a slight purplish colour, in Hinata's eyes.

"So, once the graduation ceremony was finished, I tried to find Senpai and tell her how I really felt about her. I searched and I searched, but I couldn't find her, so I asked one of her friends and they told me that she had went to the roof after the ceremony had finished," the nurse continued. "Finding out where she was, I made my way to the roof. I could remember my heart pounding hard in my chest for each step I took on those stairs towards the roof.

"All I could think about was how I would tell her, and worry about what would happen if I did. When I finally got to the door, took in a deep breath, and then opened the metal obstacle. That's were I found Senpai..." Kurenai opened her eyes and looked down. "And she wasn't alone. There was another girl, in her arms, and they were both... kissing one another."

Again, Hinata's eyes widened, not expecting those turn of events. "Sensei," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

The teacher turned her head and gave the ravenette a confused look. "Why are you apologising Hyūga-san? Surely not to feel sorry for me?"

"But...?"

"You're very kind Hyūga-san," she said with a kind smile. "But she made her decision, as did I. My only regret was not telling her my feelings sooner."

After that, there was a long silence. Neither person said a word. Kurenai went back to looking out the window, watching the few remaining students, most likely from club activities, leaving the school grounds and heading home. Meanwhile, Hinata was thinking on the teachers story. That was when the question came to mind.

"Sensei?" she called out. "Why did you tell me all that?"

Before the woman gave her reply, she lifted her arms over her head and stretched her limbs. "Because you remind me of me when I was your age," she said, placing her arms back down her side and then, after a moment, walked back to the younger girl and sat down. She gave Hinata a look of seriousness. "Which is why I'm going to give you some advice: Tell her. Tell her how you feel before it's too late. Because you never know what's around the corner."

"Sensei... I-" Before the ravenette could get a word in, both she and Kurenai saw, from the corner of their eyes, Sakura stirring in her sleep. Hinata was immediately by her side "Sakura-chan!" And at that point, Kurenai closed her eyes and smiled, and then stood up from her chair.

"I think I'll leave for a bit longer. See if there's anything that needs doing." The nurse made her way towards the door, placing her hand on it. Before she could go through it, however, the Hyūga girl called out to her again, stopping the black haired woman and turned her head back. "What's wrong, Hyūga-san?"

"Well... I'm just wondering if you still like girls?" she asked, and then suddenly, her cheeks instantly became inflamed, her white pools finding the floor more interesting. "I mean, are you still a l... l..."

"My, my, Hyūga-san. Are you asking your teacher if she's a lesbian?" Hearing that, the ravnette began to stutter her response. The redness in her cheeks increasing in volume. Kurenai smiled and laughed a little, putting the girl's worries at ease. "I'm just joking, Hyūga-san. And to answer your question, I'm bisexual. Even though I like girls, I still find men attractive."

Hinata gave a nod to her teacher, her body clearly telling Kurenai that she was relieved that she wasn't angry. "Take care Hyūga-san," the nurse continued. "And think about what I said and have no regrets." And with those words, Kurenai proceeded to slide the door open, went through and closed it behind her, leaving the two girls alone.

When she was out of the room, the older woman let out a sigh and smiled.

 _Now then. I wonder what Asuma is doing now._

* * *

When she saw her one eye open, Hinata was washed with a wave of relief. The ravenette called out to her, gently as to not frighten her, and she watched as her emerald gaze turn from the ceiling to her.

"Hinata...?"

"Are you alright Sakura-chan?" the girl asked. Sakura didn't say anything, but gave a nod confirming that she was, indeed, all right, before she slowly sat herself up. She wobbled when she did, and Hinata immediately left her seat and sat on the bed instead, grasping the younger girl's shoulders. "Careful!"

"I-I'm alright," said Sakura. "I'm just exhausted from-" Suddenly, the pinkette bore an expression of pain and her left hand flew to her eye-patch that hid her demonic orb. The ravenette began to worry once more.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?!"

"It's... my eye," she spoke through gritted teeth. "It feels like it's on fire..."

Not getting any other explanation, Sakura removed her hand and used it to grab the thin material. With a quick tug, the piece of cloth came off with ease. What Hinata saw then shocked her. Her eyes were wide and a sweat dropped down her back. When the pinkette turned to her friend, she noticed the older girl's expression and began to worry herself.

"Hinata?" she called. Why was she making that face? "What's wrong?"

"Y-Your eye..." was the response she got, which only confused her more. Without a word, the ravenette abruptly stood up from the bed and made her way to the nurse's desk. She began to rummage through the draws, and after several seconds of searching, found what she was looking for.

Hinata picked up a hand mirror and with it in hand, made her way back to the pinkette. Like before, without saying anything, the ravenette held the hand mirror, face-down, toward Sakura. The pinkette looked into the other girl's pools of white, hoping to get some sort of answer. But when she didn't get one, her gaze turned to the mirror and not a second later she took it.

That was when she saw it. She now knew why Hinata looked shocked. And now she herself was making the same face. The reason for it was that her left sclera, the white of her eye, was completely black. Her demonic eye now looked more like the eye of that other girl.

And as she continued to stare at her reflection, Sakura could have sworn that she heard that cackling laughter of Izanami in the back of her mind.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was walking the streets of Konohagakure. It hadn't been long ago since she had been at this very place, but the two places were completely different. The city of Konohagakure that was in the mind of Haruno Sakura, was completely devoid of life. Save for one person. But just thinking about her for a moment sent shivers down the girl's spine. And even though everything looked the same there, Ino very much preferred the real world's Konohagakure. There was no psychotic doppelgänger trying to torture her here.

 _But what was all of that anyway?_ she questioned in her mind. _Who is Haruno Sakura? A demon? No, she couldn't be. She doesn't have a demonic chakra. But if that's the case, then what the hell was that thing inside of her? Damnit! There's only more questions and not enough answers!_

As she was walking, taking care not to bump into anyone during the rush hour period of Japan, the blonde Demon Hunter noticed a little flower shop come into view. It was next to a bookstore across the street from her and, with curiosity getting the better of her, and most of all to get a breather from everything that had happened today, the girl decided to go over and see.

When she was in front of the store, and got a closer look, she noticed that the shop had a variety of flowers in store. They had the likes of Roses, Tulips, Daffodils, even Daisies. There were many more types of flowers and there were plenty combinations for a bouquet. She could even imagine some right now.

Nostalgia had started to set in Ino's mind as she saw the many flowers on display. She began to remember the good times of her childhood. The times before she had begun to learn about the demons that plague the world and becoming a Demon Hunter. A special time. A time when her big sister was still alive.

* * *

 _"Onē-chan! Onē-chan!"_

 _A very young Ino was running around in her big home, crying out her big sister's name as she tried to find her. Her mother and father had gone out somewhere on a mission with some of the other Yamanaka clan members, so that meant that she was all alone in her big house. Except for her big sister, who the girl was trying to desperately find. She had first checked her sister's room to see if she was reading a book. When she came up empty, however, she decided to look elsewhere._

 _She had checked the living room, the kitchen. Her parents room. And even checked her own room, but still came up empty. She checked and then double checked and even triple checked. But for the life of the little girl she couldn't find her sister anywhere. Worry had begun to set in her little mind then. What if her sister wasn't home? The girl shook her head at the thought. Her footwear was still near the entrance, which meant that she was still in the house somewhere._

 _So, she gave it some thought. And that was when it hit her. There was only one more place that she hadn't looked yet. So, with the destination in mind, she walked toward the wooden door, near the kitchen, that lead to the veranda. It was closed, and since it was made of wood, she couldn't see through it. Thinking that this was the only place she could be, Ino grasped the door firmly, and with all of her strength slid the door open._

 _The sun's light blinded her for a few moments once the door was opened, but once she blinked a few times, and could see, there in front of her was the person she had been looking long and hard for. Her big sister._

 _She was kneeling down on the grass near the flower bed of their backyard, wearing a traditional, purple kimono, and her shoulder-length brown hair, which was normally let down, was tied in a ponytail so that it wouldn't get in the way of whatever it was that she was doing. Joy filled Ino's chest, and tears had started to gather in her eyes, as she finally found her sister and called out to her from the top of her lungs._

 _"Onē-chan!"_

 _The girl stopped what she was doing and turned her head to face the little blonde. Her blue eyes met Ino's own blue pools and when she saw the girl, a gentle smile appeared on her face. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead and her bangs, that would normally frame her face, were damp, but in the blonde's eyes, she was still the prettiest girl in the Yamanaka clan. And she was her sister to boot!_

 _"Ino-chan!" she called out happily. "What's wrong?"_

 _Without even answering her question, Ino cried out her sister's name once more before she ran towards her, the tears that had been gathering up, were now flowing down like waterfall. When the little girl was close enough, she flung herself at the older girl and clung onto her for dear life._

 _"W-What's wrong Ino-chan?" her sister asked. She placed the trowel that was in her hand on the grass next to her and wrapped her arms around the small frame in front of her. "Why are you crying?"_

 _"Because!" Ino shouted. "I thought I was the only one in the house and I got scared!"_

 _"Ahhh, I see," the other girl spoke. "I didn't tell you were I would be did I?" The brunette then began to stroke Ino's blonde hair, hoping to sooth the younger girl. "I'm very sorry I scared you, Ino-chan..."_

 _The younger Yamanaka gave a nod of her head, telling her sister that she was forgiven and clung on tighter. When she was finally reduced to sniffles and hiccups, the older girl gently pushed on Ino's shoulders so that they were now meeting eye to eye._

 _"Better?" she asked, using her thumb to wipe away any stray tears that were still on her younger sister's face._

 _Ino nodded her head again. "Yes," she said, then turned her attention to the flower bed next to her. "What were you doing to the flowers, Onē-chan?"_

 _"I was tending to them," she says, also turning her blue gaze to the flowers next to her legs._

 _"Tending...?"_

 _"That's right," she nodded. "I was making sure that they were still healthy, by giving them some water and making sure they weren't damaged in anyway." The little girl nodded again, telling her sister that she understood what she meant, and the blue eyed girl smiled even more._

 _"Did you also know, Ino-chan, that flowers aren't just for smelling and looking nice?" This time, the blonde shook her head no. "They each have a name. And each of these names has a meaning. For instance..." The older girl looked at the flowers before her and when she saw one, she pointed at it._

 _"You see those flowers there?" She pointed toward a bunch of flowers that had a lot of pink petals with white edges at the end of them. "They're called Chrysanthemum, and in the language of flowers they mean cheerfulness... Which is what a certain someone needs right now!" The older girl suddenly grasped her little sister into a tight hug and began to tickle her. Ino had started to laugh uncontrollably and tried her best to try and beat her sister with the same enthusiasm._

 _But it was no use and after a while, the blonde girl told her sister that she gave up. Both girls were stuck with their giggle fit for a good while until eventually they had calmed down. The older girl then pointed at the small flowers, that had white petals and yellow pollen in it's centre, further down the flower bed._

 _"And those flowers are called Daisies," she told Ino, "and they mean innocence and hope."_

 _"Wow," the small blonde said in amazement. "You know a lot Onē-chan!_

 _Her sister chuckled, using her hand to cover her mouth as she did. "Thank you, Ino-chan," she said. "Say, would you like to help?"_

 _"Can I?!"_

 _"Of course!" The older girl took the watering can that was also next to her and held it in front of the little girl. "Can you go and fill this watering can for me?"_

 _The blonde took the watering can with a bright smile, and with a "Sure!" coming out of her mouth, the little girl ran back inside the house to do what her sister had asked. When she came back from doing the task, Ino helped out her sister, with the flowers, for the rest of the day. The two sisters smiled while they worked, all the way to the time their parents coming back and Ino telling them about her day during dinner._

* * *

Ino's eyes began to blur with tears from that little fond memory. When she felt the her tears roll down her cheek, she used her bare arm to wipe them away and shook her head afterwards. Now wasn't the time to be nostalgic. Besides, that memory happened a long time ago and it doesn't change the fact that her big sister was now no longer in this world.

"Are you okay my dear?"

The blonde's eyes widen with surprise from the sudden voice and turned her head to the left. Standing there was an elderly woman, with an pink apron wrapped around her front. Imprinted on it was a flower. The old woman a had look of concern on her face and Ino probably guessed it was because she had been seen nearly crying.

"I'm fine," she told her, standing up tall. She then faced the woman and bowed her head. "I'm sorry for being an inconvenience."

"I-It's quite all right deary," the old woman said in a fluster. "P-Please raise your head!"

The blonde did what she asked and stood back up, her back straight. She turned her head away from the person in front of her, out of embarrassment, so she was now facing the store's window. That was when she noticed that something was taped on the other side of the transparent object. It said in big, bold letters: HELP WANTED

"Help wanted...?" Ino said out loud.

"Ahh, I see you've noticed," the woman spoke up. "As you can see, I'm not getting any younger, so it's getting harder for me to run this flower shop by myself. And, it's not as popular as it used to be, so there isn't much business. I've had half a mind to shut down the place. But I just couldn't do it." There was a long pause. "You wouldn't happen to be interested, would you my dear?"

Again, Ino showed a surprised expression on her face, turning her gaze back to the woman. Her kind eyes were looking into the Demon Hunter's, and they were full of hope and expectation. If she was honest, somewhere deep inside, the girl was half tempted to actually do it. But that was when the other half of her kicked in. The only reason why she came to Konohagakure in the first place was because she needed to find the cowardly, pink haired girl who was with Yamanaka Yukiko during her final moments.

She had thought that Haruno Sakura to be the one, but after the incident that happened with the psychotic Izanami, she doubted that the pinkette was that person. She was able to hold her own, so there was no way that girl could have been the one. And since she had come to that conclusion, it was time to move on. There weren't many pink haired girls in this city so she would have to go somewhere else.

Coming to that thought, Ino was about to tell the elderly woman that she couldn't do the job, but a sudden spark flashed through her head and almost immediately after, she felt demonic chakra. A strong one at that.

"Is everything alright my dear?"

The old woman's voice brought Ino back to her senses and she realized that she was still standing in front of the flower shop, and most likely making at serious expression as well.

"I'm sorry," the blonde apologised before she took a step. "I need to go." She then walked past the woman and was about to sprint, before she was called out again.

"W-Wait!" the woman cried. "What about the job?"

She stopped and turned her head so that her blue eyes could meet the older woman's. She gave the woman an answer, and was even surprised herself for the answer she gave her. "I'll... think about it." And that was all she said before she ran, leaving the elderly woman and the shop behind.

* * *

She ran into an ally that was near where the demonic chakra was coming from, and, once she knew that there was no one around, made a few hand signs. She began to concentrate chakra to the sole of her feet and in a few seconds, blue aura had begun to surround them.

With that finished, the blonde jumped onto the wall that was in front of her and thanks to her chakra control, she was able to successfully stick on the hard bricked material. Not wasting time, she ran up the wall and once she was on top of the building, she leapt from the top of it, to another one. She continued to do this, until she came upon the rooftop that the demonic chakra was coming from. A six story building with a water tower, which was surrounded by a metal net fence.

Ino looked around the deserted roof and saw that their was no one there. _Where is it?_ she asked herself in her thoughts.

"Are you looking for me, Demon Hunter?"

The blonde girl turned her gaze toward the voice, near the water tower, where she saw a shadowed figure on top of it. Going by the persons figure and, even though it was slightly rough, by the sound of the voice, it was no doubt that it was a woman. Said woman suddenly jumped down from the water tower and landed only a couple of feet in front of Ino. She could now see who this woman was, and was surprised to see that she almost looked the same age as the blue eyed girl.

The girl was fair skinned, and had a slender build. Her long, untamed, dark pink hair, which went past her shoulders, was kept in check by the hat she was wearing, which was black with pipe-like stripes and bandaged sides. The clothes the girl wore consisted of a tan tunic with elbow-length sleeves, underneath she wore a black shirt and had skin-tight shorts. She also wore, on her arms, black arm-warmers, black open toed sandals with leg warmers that were calf-length and which were covered by bandages.

Finally, around the girl's waist, was a purple, rope-like belt that was tied into a bow, inveterately. Her brown eyes narrowed sharply, and a smug smile appeared on her lips.

"Fucking took you long enough to get here," she said. "Maybe if I'd killed someone, would that have gotten you here faster?"

Without hesitating, Ino summoned her sword, Masemune, from cherry blossoms, and grasping the scabbard with her left hand and the hilt with her right, she quickly took a fighting stance. "Who are you?!"

"A bit rude don't you think bitch?" she questioned. Ino wanted to laugh. This girl swore, twice, and she was the one being called rude? "Not like it'll change much, but my name's Tayuya. And I know who you already are, Yamanaka Ino."

Ino tightened the grasp on her weapon, her blue eyes becoming ice. "How do you know who I am?!"

"Wouldn't you like to know," the girl called Tayuya teased.

"If you're not going to tell me, then that's fine," Ino said, crouching a little. "Because you'll be dead anyway!" And with that, the blonde Demon Hunter leapt from where she was and charged at the bad mouthed girl. She found it weird that the other girl wasn't doing anything to defend herself, but she didn't care. She was going to end this with one stroke of her blade. Thinking that thought, Ino unsheathed her katana and swung at Tayuya.

"Yamanaka Yukiko."

The blade stopped just an inch from Tayuya's throat. Ino's blue eyes went wide when she heard that name come out from the other girl's mouth. The hand that held the blade started to shake as she spoke her next words.

"How...?" she asked, her wide eyes becoming icy once more, her glare strong. "How do you know that name?"

Tayuya kept smiling. Not even fazed that she had a blade near her throat. "I know that, and many other things," she replied. "I even know about the person that your looking for. The girl that was with her when she died."

At this, the blonde's heart began to pound, hard. She couldn't believe her ears. The girl in front of her, knew the answers that she was seeking. Answers that she had been searching for, for a long, long time. The Demon Hunter was that shocked by the news, that she didn't register that the pink haired girl had pushed her blade away with her finger.

"I take it that you not attacking me, means that you want to know the information I have?"

Saying that brought her attention back to reality, she didn't raise her sword, but her guard was up more. "Why should I believe what a demon says?"

"You don't," Tayuya responded, leaning forward so that their faces were close, brown eyes meeting blue. "But you're dying to know what it is, aren't you. I can tell." The fair skinned removed her face from in front of Ino's and began to circle around her, until she was behind the blonde.

"Come on Yamanaka~" Tayuya placed her arm around Ino's shoulders and the girl just looked at it. "Don't you want to know about the person that ran and left poor Yukiko to die?"

She was torn. Her Demon Hunter instincts were telling - no - screaming at her to not believe whatever this girl was saying and just kill her. The chakra coming from the girl next to her was no joke, so it would take a lot of time to do but it probably could be done. But if Tayuya was right, and Ino does kill her, then she would be no closer to the truth than where she was now. While she was contemplating on what to do, the demon girl placed her lips near the blue eyed girl's ear.

"So what will it be?"

There was a long moment. For Ino it felt like an eternity. But after a while, Ino closed her eyes and not a second later, her Masemune disappeared into cherry blossom petals. She then turned her blue orbs to brown, which showed mischief, but at that point, the blonde didn't care any more.

"Tell me," was all she said and to which, Tayuya smiled.

"Very well," she said, her smile now turning into a grin. "But instead of me saying it, let me tell you in a different way."

Before she could ask what she meant by that, the bad mouthed girl took Ino's chin between her thumb and fore finger and placed her lips forcefully on the blonde's. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened up in shock and the next thing she knew was that the other girl's tongue had slipped into Ino's and she took her tongue with hers. The Demon Hunter's eyes closed and she grabbed the girl's arm, as the forceful kiss intensified and just as she was about to run out of breath, a series of images instantly ran through her mind.

Ino's grasp in Tayuya's arm lessened as the images came and went. And after a couple more seconds, the pinkette removed her lips from Ino's, a string of saliva attached between the two pink appendages. Tayuya chuckled when she saw Ino's eyes open, and saw that they had grew dim. Her blue eyes held no emotion in them. The light had all but disappeared from them.

 _So then. Let the fun begin._

* * *

It was the next day, in Konoha High, and it was the end of school as all the students began making there way home. It was quite noisy as all the students making there way through the building were talking to one another, asking what their plans were or seeing if they wanted to do anything after school. Hinata and Sakura, however, weren't joining in on those conversations.

As they too were walking through the corridors, the ravenette was lost in her thoughts. Her mind kept on remembering the events of yesterday, of when she and Sakura were in the nurse's office. After both girls found out that the pinkette's demonic eye's sclera had become black, the ravenette had asked the pinkette how it happened.

Sakura was reluctant at first, but she then probably remembered the promise that they made back when they had saved Tenten, and slowly told her everything. She told her that the blonde Demon Hunter had used a technique to transfer her mind into hers. She also told her about Izanami, a psychotic being that lived inside Sakura, and how she managed to save Ino from her clutches but in the process of doing so, nearly got killed herself. She had rely on the full power of Amatarasu to survive. And because she did, her demonic eye had become what it was.

If it wasn't for the fact that she knew about the demons, she would have thought that Sakura was crazy and needed help. But she did. And she knew that everything that the pinkette had told her was the truth and right now her brain was trying to process all the information.

"Are you okay Hinata?"

The sound of Sakura's voice brought the Hyūga girl from her thoughts. She gave the younger girl a smile. "I'm fine," she replied.

"You still thinking about what I told you yesterday?" There was a short moment before the ravenette gave a nod. Seeing that, the pinkette came to a quick stop and she grasped Hinata's hand. The ravenette, surprised by the action, looked at the younger girl confusingly.

"Everything is alright Hinata, I'm still here," she told her, her emerald gaze serious and strong. Stronger than Hinata has ever seen before. "It'll take more than Yamanaka and the being inside of me, to bring me down. So trust me, okay?" She gave Hinata a gentle smile after that, and it made the girl's chest feel warm inside.

"Okay," was all the white eyed girl said. She quickly interlaced her fingers with the pinkette's, before the girl could do anything, and got closer so that their arms were practically touching. Sakura blushed hard at how close Hinata had suddenly become and for a reason that she couldn't explain, she began to have butterflies play within her stomach. She was embarrassed, but the smile that was now on the girl's face was worth it and both girls made their way toward the shoe lockers as they were.

When they got to their destination, both girl's let go of one another, Hinata almost immediately missing the contact of Sakura's hand. The ravenette went up to her shoe locker and replaced her shoe-like slippers for her outdoor ones. The pinkette was about to do the exact same but someone calling out to them stopped her from doing so. They both turned to see that it was a teacher, but not just any teacher. It was Kurenai that was calling out to them.

"I'm so sorry," the older woman apologised. "I know that you're heading home, but would it be alright if I borrow you for a moment Haruno-san?" Both girl's gave the black haired woman a quizzical look, so the teacher carried on further. "I've got some paperwork that I need to deliver to the faculty office. But the thing is that there is a lot of it and I would need to make several trips if I were to do it myself. I've heard that you're quite good in manual labour and I've got a date tonight, so you would be doing me a huge favour!" The woman then bowed her head. "Please help me!"

Sakura's sweat dropped as she saw a teacher bow her head and she slowly looked towards Hinata's direction for some support. But the girl just smiled her natural smile and said, "Why don't you help her out?"

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.

The ravenette nodded. "Don't worry about me. I can just wait in our classroom until you finished."

Hearing her consent and suggestion, the pinkette gave a nod and turned back to Kurenai. "Then I guess I'm all yours for the moment."

The teacher's head sprung back up and she clasped Sakura's hands with hers. "Thank you, Haruno-san!" she cried with glee. "Now not moment to waste. Lets go!" Hinata watched, from that point on, the nurse drag her demon friend away and she waved as she did, until they were no longer in view.

 _Well then, I guess I'm going back._

The ravenette went back into her locker and retrieved her shoes and sat down. Not a second that she did, did she feel like someone was behind her. It couldn't have been Sakura. She knew that the pinkette was fast, but not that fast. So it must have been another student. Before she could turn around to see who it was, a cloth was suddenly pressed on her face, covering her mouth and nose and she smelt a strong substance coming from the fabric. And as she sniffed it in, her consciousness slowly began to fade.

 _Sakura-chan..._

The pinkette was the last thing she thought of before she fell unconscious.

* * *

Sakura let out a long, tiring sigh. She had finally finished helping out Kurenai-sensei, and she couldn't believe how much work the nurse had. If she thought demons were bad she was wrong. Not only did she have to go back and forth, from the nurse's office to the faculty office, she also somehow managed to get herself caught with the other teachers who needed help with a few things as well, like help Asuma-sensei with some photocopying. _I can smell smoke on my uniform_ And she helped her homeroom teacher, Kakashi-sensei, get some coffee. _Do students really get drinks for their teachers?_

But now, after an hour, she was finally done. She was finished, and she was now making her way to class 2-B to meet with Hinata and then the pinkette would be heading home. When she got to where she needed to be, the demon girl opened the door and called out.

"I'm sorry it took so long Hinata," she said. "I had to..." Her words trailed off when she realized that there was no one in the room. "Hinata?" she called out again, but all she got in return was silence.

Finding it weird, the girl left the classroom and decided to go to the gymnasium. Maybe she wanted to see Tenten and she couldn't blame her. It was an hour after all. But that didn't work either. When she got there, there wasn't a single sign of the girl. Finding it strange, Sakura made her way towards the naginata side of the gym and spoke to Tenten who was sitting down on a bench, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"Hinata?" Tenten said when the pinkette asked if she had seen her. "She hasn't come by here, and the last time I saw her was when class ended."

The pinkette's stomach began to tighten in knots. For some reason, she felt something wasn't right and with a quick goodbye, Sakura began to look around the whole school. She started off with the nurse's office. Nothing. She then went up to the roof. Nothing there either. The girl then went to each of the other places in the school. The library. The art room. The music room, and every other classroom that the school had. But she still got the same result. Nothing.

She soon found herself back to where she had last saw the girl herself. At the shoe lockers. _Where could she-?!_ That was when she saw it. Sakura saw something white sticking out of the her shoe locker. She narrowed her eye and made her way towards it, taking it when she was close. It was a small piece of paper, and written on it was:

 _I've got something precious of yours._

 _Come and find me._

 _I know you can._

Once she finished reading what it said, she noticed that there was something at the back of it, so she turned it around. Her heart practically stopped at that moment, and her emerald eye widened. She now knew why she had that strange feeling from before. On the other side if the paper was a picture. And what it contained made the girl's hand ball up into a fist.

It was Hinata. She was laying on her side, her hands bound behind her back, and she was unconscious. Her wide eye lowered and the light within it disappeared, making the girl look cold and dangerous. Blood had started to hit the wood beneath her feet as balled fist's nails were digging into the skin. She could feel the eye behind the eye patch burn, but for a different reason. But quite frankly, Sakura didn't care. What was more important now was getting her precious friend back.

And make the person that took her pay.

* * *

 **And that's another chapter finished with. The next one might be the last chapter of the Ino arc, but if not the second to last. Once the Ino arc is finished, I'll be asking the views for something, so stay tuned for that.**

 **Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **T** **hanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	24. Strike One, Strike Two

**Welcome one and all to another chapter of Demonic Love. Sorry that this chapter is short. I wanted to try something different with my writing. In this chapter, I've done something different with the point of views. Instead of putting them together, I've separated them instead. Just wanted to see if it was any better.**

 **Also KitsuneGirl1994, if you are still reading this, I've put in something that you had said from a review into this story. I hope you figure out what it was, so a big shout out to you.** **Like always (or recently started) lets get on with the thanks first.**

 **-Azn Lord (Favourite & Follow)**

 **Reviews:**

 **-Captain Jack S - You'll defiantly find out in the next chapter, and sorry for making you camp out for so long. But here you go :)**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

Her eyes slowly began to open and what Hinata was met with was the darkness of night. Her mind was foggy, and she wondered where she was. She was on a hard floor, lying on her side. And when she tried to move her arms, to get up, she realized that they were bound behind her back. As she tried to move her wrists, she could feel the rope dig into her skin further.

 _What's going on?_

"I see you're finally awake."

From her position on the ground, the ravenette's head shot up. She could see someone sitting on what looked to be on a ledge. Was she on a roof? The person sitting on the ledge was shadowed by the night sky, but Hinata easily recognised the voice.

"Yamanaka-san...?"

The shadowed figure suddenly rose up from their perch and made their way to Hinata, and once close enough, the ravenette knew that she was right. It was indeed Yamanaka Ino, the Demon Hunter, but something was different about the blonde. The most obvious thing was her eyes. The white of her eyes, her sclera, were black. Black like Sakura's demonic eye was back at the nurse's office. She was also wearing an outfit that she had never seen before.

It was a purple outfit that consisted of a high-collared blouse and a matching apron skirt. Her midriff was completely exposed, showing a slim, toned stomach and on her thighs, elbows and knees seemed to be sort of armour made out of mesh. There was also the body language. It was off. It wasn't as cool and collected that she had saw her when she was in school. If there was a word for it, it would be corrupted. That's how she felt when the blonde knelt down before her.

"What's going on Yamanaka-san?" Hinata asked. "Why am I here? And why am I tied up?"

The Demon Hunter smirked. "You know Hyūga-san," she started, "I would have thought you would be the shy and silent type. Be in the background, hiding. But it looks like I was completely wrong." The girl then stood up. "And as to why you're here. You're bait."

"Bait?" the raventte repeated, trying to understand what that meant. When the realization hit, her eyes widened. There was only one thing that the blonde girl could mean when she meant she would be bait. Ino used her expression as a sign and spoke up.

"That's right. Haruno Sakura. That's who I'm waiting for." Ino walked up to the ledge once more, and stood next to Hinata. "You see, I know what she is. And I know you do as well. That's the part that I'm confused about." The girl's blue gaze turned to girl on the floor. "You know what she is. So why are you with her?"

For that question, the answer was simple for Hinata. Her thoughts brought her back to when they didn't know each other. How she saved a cat from a tree and saw the gentle expression and the cute laughter. They then lead her to when she almost sacrificed herself to save her, from the pinkish-red demon and Tenten, from the white skinned fiend. And with what the pinkette told her, she even nearly died saving the blonde Demon Hunter.

"Because she's my precious friend!" Hinata exclaimed without hesitation, managing to sit up, which was quite difficult with her hands tied behind her back. "She's kind and gentle. She's selfless and strong. And I don't care if she's a demon or not. She's someone who I really care about and I know that she wouldn't hurt anyone!"

Ino's expression changed entirely when she heard those words, and before she knew it, her hand was raised. Hinata suddenly felt a stinging sensation as the blonde slapped her across the cheek and she let out a little cry before hitting the ground again. The ravenette bore a pained face, her eyes closed tightly, before she slowly opened her white pools and turned her gaze back to the blonde. Her hands were closed into fists and her eyes were dangerous.

"Don't you dare fuck with me!" she shouted out angrily. That was probably the first time she had heard the girl curse since she met her. "Selfless? Strong? She isn't any of those things! If she was, she wouldn't have ran away that night and left her to die!"

"W-What do you mean?" Hinata asked nervously. Who did the girl talk about when she meant "her?"

"You don't know?" she asked, but the look on Hinata's face told her the answer. "Haruno is the reason why I came to Konohagakure in the first place! For months, I've been going to different parts of Japan, going to school there and hoping that I find the girl that was with her! And I finally have. Here in Konohagakure. The pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura. And a demon no less."

She said the last part with venom and Hinata waited for the girl to calm down for just a moment before she spoke again. "What are you going to do with Sakura-chan?"

"Isn't it obvious? Once I find out everything that had happened, I'll kill her," she stated matter of factly. The ravenette's blood ran cold, her white eyes wide as saucers. "She is a demon after all. And as a Demon Hunter, it's my job to rid the world of them."

"Does that include families?" Hinata asked, the blonde cocking an eyebrow at the question, not knowing what she was talking about. "When you first met Sakura-chan, you were about to kill a family in cold blood. Why? What did they ever do to you?"

Ino immediately answered the question with a straight face. "The father was a demon, a pathetically weak demon, but one none the less" she says, clearly remembering that night. "And the mother was human, but she knew what her spouse was. And she even conceived a child with it, so she was already tainted. And as for the child, self explanatory. Even if it was human, it still had demon blood running through it's veins."

The ravenette felt sick to her stomach. Her bound hands tightened into fists. She couldn't believe it. How could the blonde say those words and think that justified her actions? Just because the father and son weren't normal and the mother chose to accept them, they couldn't have a normal family? Which was why the next words Hinata spoke, she didn't hold back.

"Unforgivable..." she said, glaring at her captor. "What gives you the right to play god?! You're a self-righteous hypocrite! You would kill innocent beings for what they are, instead of what they've done!" The Demon Hunter, too, glared at the ravenette, her own fists clenching in anger. Even though she didn't know what sort of thoughts were running through her head, it didn't stop Hinata however.

"Sakura-chan is so much better than you," she continued. "She kills the demons who really deserve it. Not the ones that want to live peacefully with humans, and have normal lives!"

That was when the blonde snapped. She visibly gritted her teeth and before Hinata knew it, she was kicked at the side of her face. She let out a quick cry when she hit the floor and a huge amount of pain had begun to form where she had been kicked.

"SHUT UP!" Ino roared. "A pathetic human girl like you could never understand what me and the other Demon Hunters have been through!" Almost as soon those words left her, the blue eyed girl immediately placed a hand over her head. She grunted in pain, again baring her teeth, but her eyes quickly widened, then narrowed. Out of nowhere, cherry blossom petals appeared and from within it, a samurai sword came out. She spun one hundred and eighty degrees, unsheathed her blade, and sparks flew.

The ravenette wondered what was going on, so she looked up. Her white pools opened wide and joy instantly filled her entire body. The blonde had blocked an attack from a scythe, a very familiar scythe, and it's owner was none other than the girl she longed to see.

* * *

As soon as she had kicked the Hyūga girl to the ground, pain had suddenly begun to assault her head. There was a voice in the back of her head telling her to hurt the ravenette more, and it took all she had to not comply with the voice's wish. The girl deserved it though, after all she had called the blue eyed girl a hypocrite and had been sprouting nonsense. But when she sensed a someone coming at her with inhuman speed, the voice had vanished. In a second, she had summoned Masemune and unsheathed it and in the next, she turned and deflected an incoming attack. From a scythe.

The emerald, green eye of Haruno Sakura was glaring at her coldly, and Ino couldn't help but smile. "So you finally turned up." She pushed the pinkette's weapon back and the girl backflipped in the air before landing on the other side of the roof they were currently on.

"You took your sweet time, Haruno-san," says Ino, flicking her bangs away from her face with her slender fingers. "And here I thought you didn't care about this girl. Considering your real nature." The pinkette remained silent, but she took the girl's narrowed eyes as her answer.

"That's right, I know what you really are," she continued. "So why don't you get rid of that eyepatch and expose that left arm of yours." But the girl didn't comply. She remained completely still with her pissed off face of hers and Ino let out a little sigh. Without a word, the blonde took her sword and used it to swipe the ravenette's leg, a little cry escaping past her lips. Warm crimson had started to seep from the wound that was created, covering some of Hinata's leg in red, and Ino noticed that the pinkette's entire body language changed. Her eyes had changed from cold to rage and her grip on her weapon tightened.

"Did that get your attention?"

Again, all she got was silence, but doing that had worked. Sakura had taken her blue-tinted scythe from her left hand with her right and used that to cut the one sleeved shirt's arm, that was underneath the girl's school shirt, and the white gauze that was wrapped wrist down, in half. Both materials slowly fell to the floor and her demonic arm was now exposed to the night air. And using that arm, she reached for the material covering her left eye.

She took it off with a quick tug and when that, too, fell to the floor, everything was now out in the open. Seeing the golden-yellow eye, which was now surrounded by a black, for a moment, Ino remembered her time inside the pinkette's head. Or more importantly, the time she had spent with that psychopath, Izanami. She felt a chill run down her spine from the thought of it, but it fuelled her resolve to take Sakura down even more.

"You know, I have an apology to make. When we first met, and when we were inside your head, I had called you a Demon Hunter," she said. "But now I realize that was an insult... to us." Ino raised her sword and took a fighting stance, both hands now on the hilt. "An insult that I'm going to correct."

And with that, the blonde charged at the demon girl. At last, she could finally get her revenge.

* * *

When she had tried to strike a blow against the blonde huntress, the pinkette knew almost immediately that something wasn't right. The most obvious sign was the fact that her eyes had changed, but there was her chakra. It wasn't the same as it was before. It was dark and twisted and one percent of her mind wondered what had happened. The remaining ninety-nine percent, however, quite frankly didn't care.

And that was because Sakura was pissed. Extremely pissed. Not only had Hinata been kidnapped, but the Yamanaka girl had dared to injure the ravenette also. Right in front of her eyes. So when she saw the blonde draw her weapon and charge at her, the pinkette wasn't going to hold anything back.

And it was a good thing she wasn't.

When Ino swung her weapon to strike, the pinkette blocked the attack with the polearm of her scythe. The attack was simple, but Sakura didn't realize that it was strong too and she was sent skidding back, until the heel of her shoes hit the curb of the ledge behind her.

 _Damn! She's stronger than she was before!_

Her hands ached slightly but she ignored it for now. Because at that moment she needed all her concentration on the incoming attacks that the Demon Hunter was about assault her with. She had swung her blade twice. The first was diagonal slash, which Sakura parried, but the second attack after was a kick to the abdomen. It knocked the wind out of her as she went sailing through the air and landed on another rooftop. She used the blade of her scythe to stop herself, leaving a mark of where the sharp metal had been, before the pinkette came to a complete stop.

But unfortunately for her, she wouldn't be able to have time to recover as she felt chakra coming towards her. She looked up, only to see a blade with no master flying at her with lightning speed. She swung her scythe up in time to deflect the flying blade, but she didn't see the blonde had flitted right before her.

"Too slow!" Ino cried, thrusting the heel of her palm into the pinkette's chest, connecting. Her green and demonic eyes widened as saliva flew out from her mouth from the sheer force that was put into the strike, and the girl had ended up releasing her hold on her scythe. Sakura fell to the floor coughing, trying to get back whatever air had been forced out.

"Get up," the blonde growled. She tried, but the blow she sustained was that strong that it was a struggle. "I've been waiting months for this very moment. So don't disappoint me now."

 _Waiting for months?_ "What... are you... talking about?" It hurt to speak, but she honestly didn't know what the blonde meant by that.

"You're joking right?" Ino asked. "You still haven't figured it out? I know I was dumb to think you were a Demon Hunter, but you're really slow." Sakura slowly managed to get herself onto her hands and knees, while Ino continued to speak. "I guess it doesn't matter at this point. Maybe I'll tell you once you're on death's door." Saying that, the girl raised her arm into the air and in her hand, her weapon reappeared from cherry blossom petals.

And with a "Goodbye," the blonde flipped her blade so it was now pointing at the pinkette and thrust it down, aiming toward at Sakura's head.

 _GRAB!_

A demonic hand grasped the weapon's silver metal, which had stopped just about an inch from killing the demon girl, and a blood began to flow out onto the katana. "You know, Yamanaka," said Sakura, as she slowly turned her head to look at the Demon Hunter. Her golden-yellow eye started to glow, piercing through the darkness of night, and gazing into Ino's wide blue eyes. "You talk too much."

* * *

As soon as the words left the girl's mouth, Ino could feel it. A powerful chakra had begun to spread throughout Sakura's body, and in the next second the pinkette had suddenly combusted into black flames. The blonde released her grip on her weapon and jumped back as far as she could. She watched as the flames went from being wild and uncontrollable, to taking on a physical appearance. Not long after, as quickly as they appeared, the flames dissipated at once, and left behind was a different Sakura.

She was clad in black. A robe-like overcoat that flared out into ragged ends, that had a white lining and a hood. A cherry blossom imprinted black kimono, with a black divided umanori hakama was underneath. The girl slowly stood up from were she was and with the hand not holding Masemune, she reached for the hood behind her head. She pulled it over her head, hiding her pink locks and turned her head to look at Ino.

The moment she did, for the second time, the blonde felt fear. The girl's demonic eye was peaking through the hood, and thanks to the night sky, it was the only thing she could see. And the look she was giving her showed that she was serious. _Then I guess I need get serious as well!_

Thinking that, Ino reached out and the sword that was in Sakura's hand disappeared into cherry blossoms. She felt the familiar weight in her own, and took a fighting stance when she did. Ino didn't waste any time and charged into the fray. She was fast, no thanks to the boost power she had received from a certain person, and the pinkette made no indication that she was going to defend herself, so the blonde decided she wanted to end this quick.

She swung her blade into a horizontal arc, hoping to take the girl's head from her shoulders, and the other girl continued to remain still. When her blade made contact with the black clad girl, she hoped she would feel her blade tear through flesh and break bone, but she got nothing. Masemune had past right through her, and the person in front of her had slowly started to fizzle out. That was when she realized her mistake.

 _An afterimage!_

"Strike one..."

Ino's blue eyes widened from the voice behind her, turning herself around only to be met with a blue tinted scythe. She managed to parry the attack, and then a diagonal slash that followed, before she jumped away again. Ino took her stance once more, but this time she was more cautious. The other girl was once again unmoving, her scythe loosely in her grip. It was time for a different tactic.

Bringing her weapon toward her mouth, she grasped it between her teeth and started to do hand signs. Puffs of smoke surrounded the blonde and coming out from it were clones of herself. She didn't need any words to order her clones, as they all took their blades from their mouths and ran towards the pinkette, letting a roar escape their throats. This time, when they went in for the attack, Sakura started to walk slowly the multiple Demon Hunters. The scythe in the girl's hands hit the ground, the sound of metal scrapping the floor as she approached her attackers.

But the plan to outnumber the girl didn't work.

Almost as soon as the first Ino clone made an attempt to strike, the pinkette vanished. Before she could ask herself where she went, the girl reappeared behind the fifth blonde clone, swinging her scythe to the side. The crying screams of the clones went through the Ino's ears before they all went up in a puff of smoke, and at that moment, the side-effect of the cloning technique hit the girl like a truck. The memories of her clones being struck by the girl's scythe went through her own and the she could feel the pain rack her body.

She let out a short shout, going down on one knee, using Masemune for support and breathed laboured breaths.

"Strike two..."

The voice of the demon girl was now directly in front of her and when she looked up, her blue eyes met green and demonic. Ino felt small, weak compared to Sakura, as she stared into those pools of green and yellow. And she didn't like it. Why should she be the one to be scared? It should be the other way round. It should be the demonic girl in front of her, that kneels before her. To cower in fear.

Narrowing her blue eyes and gritting her teeth, the blonde jumped away from the pinkette. The memories were still fresh in her mind, so when she landed it hurt her a little (even though she had no injuries to begin with). She went back to her hands signs and started to feel the chakra spreading through her entire body. What she was about to do, was a dangerous technique. A last resort if things were not going the way they planned.

Opening one of the Eight Gates.

A while back, when Ino had begun her Demon Hunter training, a man had come to her village. He had black hair that was shaped like an upside down bowl and bushy eyebrows. He had travelled there, walking on his hands only, and she and everyone else from the Yamanaka, Nara and the Akimichi clans thought that he was strange. His answer was that it was because the "power of youth" and the blonde thought the man was even more strange. And when he asked if he could stay for a few days, everyone was nervous to let a weirdo stay. But in exchange for the man staying at their village, he would teach them a technique.

The Eight Gates. A technique that can let the user use one hundred percent of their instead of the limited twenty that most people could only release, depending on what gate you could open. However the technique was dangerous. In exchange for surpassing ones own physical limits, their body would become extremely damaged. But for Ino, she didn't care.

The gate that she was going to open, or more likely the only gate she could open, was the Gate of Pain. This gate would increase her speed and power but her the side-effect would be that her muscle tissue would tear upon use. Funny out this works. She was going to use the Gates of Pain, to bare all of her pain, on the person who caused her pain.

"Gate of Pain..." the blonde muttered. She could now feel her chakra all through out her body. Her muscles were screaming at her, like they knew what she was doing, telling her to stop. But she ignored them, instead listening to the voice in her mind, telling her to kill the demon in front of her. To tear her apart. Which is what Ino would gladly do.

"OPEN!"

* * *

A huge gust of wind had suddenly hit her, her robe-like overcoat flapping wildly along with it, as Sakura watched green aura, with a hint of black a tint, surround the Demon Hunter. All of the energy she had gathered was being released all at once. Her skin colour had suddenly become more tanned, and her blue eyes had become white. She could feel the murderous intent clearly emanating from the girl and understood that Ino was now really getting serious.

 _Doesn't matter._ Regardless of what the blonde was doing, she had still kidnapped and hurt Hinata. And for that, she was going to beat the living crap out of her. So not wasting time, Sakura too powered up. A black flame-like aura surrounding her. The pinkette twirled her scythe between her fingers, the sharp polearm rotating like a fast turbine, above her head before swinging it to the side.

It was now time for strike three.

* * *

 **And there you have another chapter. The next one will defiantly end Ino's arc. So what did you guys think? Was this style of writing better? I've read other stories with this sort of style and gave it a try. Please tell me if I should do this more, or if I should go back to what it was before. You telling anything will be a huge help. Also, for the Eight Gates, I had to use Naruto wiki for it. It's been a while since I've watched it.**

 **And KitsuneGirl1994, did you notice which part it was I used? If not I'll tell you next chapter. Like I said before, apologies for making this one slightly short.** **Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **I've also written a one-shot for X-men, which features X-23 (which was also the reason for a slight delay of this chapter). It's called An Assassin's Choice. So please go and give that a read.**

 **T** **hanks** **again, and see ya next chapter!**


	25. The Reason For It All, Ino's Decision

**Hey people, and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love...**

 **(Yuri sits on his knees and bows his head until it touches the floor.)**

 **I'm really sorry for a slow update. I was really having trouble with writers block. Plus I really wanted to catch up on a few new games, like Mass Effect Andromeda, and Persona 5 (which is my favourite series). So I really hope that this chapter (which is over 9000 words, which is also the reason for the struggle) makes up for the long, long wait (one month nearly!)**

 **So I really hope you can forgive me. Also, this is the final chapter of Ino's arc, and please see the authors note at the end as there is something I want to tell you.**

 **So anyway, on to the thanks** **.**

 **-ScorpioQueen96 (Follow/Favourite)  
-Darkrai842 (Favourite)  
-DarkLordPS4 (Favourite)**

 **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

* * *

"Hehehehe... HAHAHAHAHA!"

Tayuya couldn't help herself but laugh. She was standing on another rooftop, one that was far away from the fight, using her demonic sight to see how the battle between the demon and hunter was going. And from what she was seeing so far, Tayuya was enjoying herself. After her father had told her and her siblings not to go to the human realm, she had quickly grew bored. And when she finally had enough, she then didn't give two fucks about what he would say, heading out and disobeying him.

And if she was honest with herself, she was glad she did it. The only reason why she showed the blonde demon hunter those memories and had given her some power was only for the demon girl's amusement. And what a show the two girls where putting on.

As soon as Sakura had powered up even more, that was when the fight began. The Yamanaka girl began with throwing her weapon, if she remembered correctly was called Masemune, high into the air and while the object was airborne, she charged at the pinkette with inhuman speed. No thanks to the power she was using now, plus a bit of Tayuya's own.

The girl leapt forward and went in for a fast forefist, aiming for the Sakura's face. Normally, without protection on the hands, punching someone's face would most likely end up damaging and break the person's fingers on the hard temple or jaw bone. But thanks to the boost she has, it would definitely do the opposite. On a normal human's skull, the blow would shatter it to pieces, but the pinkette's case it would only cause damage. But it would be a huge blow.

The pinkette easily read the attack, considering it was coming directly from in front of her, and used the polearm of her scythe to block the fisted appendage. Once connected the blonde did a roundhouse kick immediately after, managing to hit the pinkette on the side of her hooded head. The girl's head snapped to the side and she went sailing towards another building. This time she went through it, landing in an office full of computers and desks.

Tayuya let out a long whistle. "I'm impressed," she said in amazement. "I only gave her a little boost, but whatever technique she's using is unique." Maybe if this fight ended with the Demon Hunter's win, she should make the girl her slave? The idea made Tayuya smile. _But that's only if the girl wins._ Who knows? Maybe the pinkette would make a comeback.

It only seemed time would tell. And at the moment, the demon had all the time in the world.

* * *

Ino watched as the dust cloud, from where she had sent Sakura flying, was escaping the office building a few blocks from the one she was on. The people on the streets were probably at the scene right now, wondering if a bomb had been sent off.

Letting out a sigh, Ino raised her arm up toward the sky. She called out her swords name in her thoughts, and not a second later did she feel the familiar weight in her hand, her slender, tanned fingers wrapping around the hilt. With Masemune were it belongs, the blonde waited. And she waited. And waited. Her blue eyes turned white narrowed in annoyance. She was wondering why it was taking this long for the pinkette to get out of the debris covering her. She knew there was no way that she was down for the count yet.

"Oi! Haruno!" Ino shouted out the girl's name, her voice echoing through the night. She didn't get an instant response, so she decided to wait a little. Just maybe after ten seconds of nothing, the blonde Demon Hunter was getting annoyed. She was about to call out again, but she only got the "Ha" in the pinkette's name before a hand, which was the blackest of reds, grasped the front of her face. The next thing she knew, she was looking toward the night sky through the gaps of fingers.

Her head hit the roof she was on and Ino could feel it cave in slightly from the impact. She could also see the demonic eye through the hood of the black clad girl and the blonde narrowed her eyes and her teeth were clenched tightly together.

 _Get the hell off of me you murderer!_

Ino planted the soles of both of her feet on the other girl's stomach and pushed. The girl flew over her and with the weight out of the way, she stood up. The pinkette was already standing tall, her back straight, and her scythe back at her side. She could hear the sound of something dripping onto the floor. The blonde couldn't see very well because it was dark and the black hood concealed the pinkette's face very well, but she could just about make out blood falling down from Sakura's jaw.

And even though she had been able to draw blood from the girl, Ino was still not satisfied. She hated the fact that the Haruno girl was standing as if nothing had happened to begin with. She was wide open for attacks, but at the same time she wasn't. If she was honest with herself, she didn't really know, and that frustrated her.

The voice in the girl's head, from before, began to cry out. It shrieked to her, like nails on a blackboard, telling her to kill the demon that was in front of her. She really didn't need to be told that. She was going to enjoy butchering her, to tear her limb from bloody limb. She was going to enjoy watching the life leave the girl's eyes. Actually, the word enjoy wasn't enough. She was going to _revel_ in it.

With that thought, Ino took her stance once more. The green aura, that surrounded her before, reappeared, only this time much bigger. Sweat had started to pour off the girl's head, and when it dropped from her chin, it evaporated into the green aura, sizzling out of existence. Not one to play with her food, the blonde Demon Hunter charged at the pinkette, going in for the thrust with her Masemune. It connected, but instead of flesh it met the metal of the girl's scythe.

Sparks flew as Ino swung her weapon, twice, but was met with the same result. When the blonde went in for a third attack, which was a three hundred and sixty degree vertical slash, the pinkette jumped away, doing a backflip in mid-air. As soon as she landed, Sakura leapt forward. She did the same last move that the blonde had done, mid-leap, and when Ino parried it she didn't realize the attack was heavy, until it hit her.

She gritted her teeth, one eye closing, and planted her feet firmly into the ground so that she wouldn't be sent flying. But the pinkette wasn't done yet. She immediately went in for another chance to get her scythe wet with the Demon Hunter's blood, this time a diagonal, downward slash that was fast, considering that the scythe was long and heavy, and the fact that she was only using one hand to do so.

Again, Ino blocked the attack. And even though this time she didn't have to grit her teeth or plant her feet, before she knew it she parried another. And another, and then another. Soon, she found herself defending against a flurry of attacks, each strike, slash and thrust precise and fast. And they only seemed to get faster and heavier by the second.

It was an unexpected kick to the chest that finished of the onslaught of attacks, hitting the blonde's Masemune to the side and made her go off balance. She slid back a couple of yards away from the demon girl, and glared, hard, at the pinkette when she stopped.

 _Damn it!_ Ino screamed in her head. _It's not over yet! I can still-!_

That was when the inevitable happened. She knew that it could happen, but she didn't expect it to be this soon. And that was the side effect of using one of the Eight Gates.

Agonising pain had assaulted her body, like a flash of lightning. It came at her fast and unexpected, cutting off any train of thought she had. She refused to scream, though. Her pride wouldn't allow her to cry out in pain in front of the enemy. But that didn't stop what was happening within her body.

The green aura, that was surrounding her, had snuffed itself out. Her muscles suddenly grew heavy like lead. Her vision began to blur, and as it did, the girl's legs gave way. She hit the ground, on her hands and knees before going into a sitting position, and breathed laboured breaths.

 _Is this it?_ Ino thought. _Is this all I can do? Am I just going to sit here, like some dog, waiting?_ The blonde gritted her teeth, mentally slapping herself. _NO! No way in hell am I going to let that happen!_

With whatever strength she had remaining, she dug the tip of her katana into the ground and, using Masemune as a crutch, tried her best to stand up. Slowly, but surely, she was able to do so. But unfortunately at the moment that was all. Her muscles still screamed at for doing so much, but she just ignored it. She _had_ to.

When the sound of feet met Ino's ears, her eyes, which had been white now turned back to natural blue, looked up. She saw the black clad pinkette make her way towards her, slowly, as if to draw out this fight even longer.

With great difficulty, Ino managed to raise her sword up, the sharp metal pointing at her opponent. The demon girl stopped, now just a few feet away, and simply stared at the weapon pointed at her. "It's over, Yamanaka," was what she said. Her tone of voice monotone, holding no emotion at all. "All that power you just had is now gone. And from the way you're acting, I say it came at a heavy cost."

"Shut up," Ino growled, venom lacing her voice. Lose? Her? Against a demon? Like hell she was. With a loud grunt, Ino closed the distance between them and swung, sluggishly, at the hooded pinkette. But even the blonde knew that wouldn't work. Her body was too weak, and with a quick parry from Sakura, Masemune was sent flying into the air and she hit the ground, landing on her ass and the moment she looked back up, her blue eyes met silver metal.

The girl's golden-yellow eye was staring into Ino, like she was trying to bore into her soul. "Like I said: you've lost." She wanted to protest, but even she knew that Sakura was right. Her body wouldn't respond to her to commands, stuck sitting down. She could only watch as the hooded pinkette determined her fate.

"But let me ask you one thing, Yamanaka," she continued. "Why did you kidnap Hinata in the first place? What were you hoping to gain out of it?"

"Why you ask?" says Ino. "I did it, so I could get to you."

She couldn't see because of the hood, but the scythe wielding girl furrowed her brows. "If that's the case, then you should have just attacked me instead of going after Hinata. And you still didn't answer my question. What were you hoping to gain?"

Ino smirked at this. "Because I wanted you to feel how I've felt for many years now. All of the anger I've got, building up inside of me." The blonde stared directly into the demonic looking eye and glared, hard. "And the reason for it all, is because of _you_."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked. "I don't remember ever doing something to you."

"That's right. You haven't done anything to me... directly," she told her, earning her an almost invisible cocked eyebrow from the pinkette. "A few years ago, someone I cared dearly about died, no, was murdered. Killed by a demon. And I heard that she wasn't alone when she was attacked."

Ino then saw the girl's eye widened beneath her cloak's hood. The pinkette was processing the information in her head, it slowly coming together. Her body stiffened also, the girl's hold on the polearm tightening ever so slightly.

It was now finally tell the girl the truth of who she really was.

* * *

"Her name... was Yamanaka Yukiko."

 _BA-THUMP... BA-THUMP..._

Went the sound of Sakura's heart, pounding in her chest and loudly in her ears. Hearing that name brought back the image of her best friend, and the person that she had loved the most, into her mind. Her shoulder length brown hair that would flutter in the wind and sway every time she moved her head. Her beautiful blue eyes that the pinkette could have looked at for hours. And her kind smile, which always seemed to make even Sakura smile, and fill her body with unexplained warmth.

"The same girl that you had abandoned that night."

 _BA-THUMP... BA-THUMP..._

Then the peaceful memory shattered into pieces. The next thing she knew was that she was in a park, sitting up in the mud. It was raining, and standing in front of her, was Yukiko. Her eyes widened as she saw the girl, with her arms wide apart, have a kind smile on her face as she was impaled by some black, sharp metal rod. Blood trickled down the girl's mouth and she spoke words to the pink haired girl and before she knew it, she was on her feet and running. She looked behind her, only to see the brunette fall to the mud, before she turned back and ran far as her legs could take her.

"And she... was my big sister!"

And when the blonde said those last words, Sakura's blood went practically cold. Her entire body went stiff and her green and demonic eyes widened, like it had on that dark night. Her power had started to waver, and in the next moment, she reverted from her demonic form back to her school uniform.

"Yuki-chan... had a sister...?" said Sakura in shock, her brain still trying to catch up. Now that she thought about it, it was slowly starting to make sense. When she met the Yamanaka girl on those stairs back at school, she wondered why the girl looked familiar to her. If she had short brown her and looked slightly older, they practically could have been twins.

The blonde had been struggling for a while to stand up, but she had managed to finally do so with the help of her katana, and when she was on her feet, she continued to glare at the pinkette. "That's right," Ino said in agreement, clenching the hand not holding her sword into a tight fist. "And you're the one, WHO KILLED HER!"

Screaming that last part out, Ino released her hold of her make shift crutch, took a step and threw a punch. It connected to Sakura's cheek, bringing her back to reality, and in the next moment she hit the floor. Before she could do anything, the pinkette felt a sudden weight pin her body to the ground and again felt another punch to her face, one that was harder than the last. It didn't really take a genius to figure out that it was Ino and she was smacking the living day lights out of her.

"Why?!" the girl cried out, punching the pinkette once more. Her head snapped to the side from the impact causing the inside of her cheek to be cut, the metallic taste of blood slowly seeping through into her mouth. "Why?!" she cried again, punching. This time Sakura's head snapped the other direction, the blood that had been gathering in her mouth, was now flying out onto the ground. "Why?!" A third punch. It was a good thing the pink haired girl was a demon. Otherwise her skull would have been fractured, or worse, by the blonde's strength.

 _But I completely deserve it..._

If what the blonde said was true, and Ino was indeed Yukiko's sister, then she had every right of doing what she was doing now. Even though Sakura didn't actually kill her, but when she ran that night,she might as well have. For every time the Demon Hunter would land a punch, the anger that had been building up inside Sakura began to dwindle, until there was nothing left.

"It's not fair!" Ino screamed as she continued her assault of punches. At this point, Sakura's face had become numb to register the pain, and if it wasn't for the fact that her head was being forced from side to side she would have thought the blonde had stopped hitting her. All she could do was listen to the shouts of the girl pummelling her.

"Why is-" _PUNCH!_ "-a coward like you-" _PUNCH!_ "-still alive while-" _PUNCH!_ "-my sister is dead!" _PUNCH!_ "Tell me!" _PUNCH!_ "Tell me!" _PUNCH!_ "TELL ME!"

She wish she could. She really did. But even after so long, she herself was still wondering the same thing.

The pinkette had lost the track of time on how long the blonde had been punching her. Sakura's vision slowly started to blur and it wouldn't be longer now before the girl would lose consciousness. Then, when the punching suddenly stopped, the pinkette thought that the Demon Hunter was catching her breath, getting ready for the next set of punches. But when she felt something wet hit her face instead, her eyes widened. The blurs of her vision becoming clear almost instantly.

When she turned her face to look, her eyes met the sight of a tearful Ino, her blue orbs tightly close. The salty water of the girl's tears ran down her cheeks, dropping off her chin before hitting the pinkette's face. She wasn't crying out loud, only a few sobs and sniffs escaped the girl's mouth. But the tears kept coming.

"Onē-chan..." the girl sobbed. "Why? Why did it have to be her? Onē-chan..."

When she heard the blonde call out to her sister in a broken voice, Sakura's chest tightened with guilt. It was the first time that she felt like this for someone she was fighting against and it hurt. Without thinking of what she was doing, the pinkette sat up and wrapped her arms around the girl that was on top of her. She felt the girl go stiff in her arms and a small gasp escape past her lips.

"Haru...no..."

"You were right, Yamanaka," Sakura spoke, "I was a coward. And if I could take it all back and do over again, I would. It should have been me telling her to run, not the other way round." The pinkette paused for a moment. She wanted to make sure that the girl was listening, and made sure her grip on the Ino was loose so that she could move away at any time. But she hoped that she didn't, because Sakura needed to say something to her.

"But it doesn't change the fact that I left her there," she continued. "Which is why, I want to say... I'm sorry, Yamanaka. I'm so, so sorry."

All was silent after her apology. The pinkette still kept her grip on the blonde loose, still giving her an opportunity to get away from the demon girl. However, it was a chocked sobbed that grasped Sakura's attention and before she knew it, the blonde's arms had wrapped around her back, tightly. The chocked sobs had quickly become a cry, the blonde placing her face on the girl's shoulder and soaking her school shirt with her tears.

Sakura didn't care though. She knew the Demon Hunter had a lot of pride, and right now she threw all that out of the window to weep in her opponent's arms. To weep in the arms of the person who was responsible for it all.

That's why she proceeded to not say anything and wait. Helping the girl to let it all out of her system, and to see what would happen next.

* * *

"Tch, how fucking boring," Tayuya complained, giving the two girls on the roof a cold, irritated look. She was annoyed that her source of entertainment had ended. With no victor of all things. Well, it looked like she wouldn't be getting a Demon Hunter slave any time soon.

Her depression didn't last long however. A sudden, wicked smile had plagued her lips. Her demonic eyes already set on something else. With a flick of her wrist and wave of her fingers, a flute appeared from darkness and into her hand.

 _I think it's time for the finale._

Slowly, as if to saver the moment, the demon girl brought the silver metal object towards her lips. She blew into the mouth piece, as her fingers danced over the other four holes that were on the wind instrument. As the air she blew came out as a melody, a massive pool of darkness appeared in front of her. Three massive creatures began to emerge from within it, and Tayuya couldn't help the smile as she played her flute.

Her sharp, demonic gaze targeting a certain, tied up raven haired girl.

* * *

All was quiet from were Hinata was sitting, the sound of battle long since past. The ravenette was beginning to get anxious. When they were fighting, she could hear everything that was going on. All the clanging of metal meeting one another, the sound of buildings being demolished by the power of the two most powerful girls she had ever seen. Everything. But now that it was all silent, Hinata couldn't help but feel negative.

What if Sakura lost? What if she was... dead? It was a possibility, considering how strong the girl was from what she saw.

 _Stop it Hinata!_ she chastised herself. The girl couldn't have died. She made a promise. That even though she couldn't keep a promise of not dying, that she would try her best to not get hurt too much, to the point that the ravenette would worry sick. And if seeing her beat two impossibly strong demons was anything, it was that she knew that she would be able to keep that promise.

 _BOOOOOM!_

Suddenly, dust and wind had assaulted Hinata and with he hands still bound behind her back, she couldn't do much about the debris that flew her way, so she hid her face behind her legs for protection. When she couldn't feel the wind any more, the Hyūga girl slowly lifted her head and stared at the dust covered cloud before her.

At first, she thought it was Sakura. Wondering if the Demon Hunter had landed a hard enough blow to cause such an impact. But that thought process quickly changed when, instead of a single silhouette slowly trying to stand up and to carry on fighting, there were three shadowed figures. Finally, once the dust cloud was no more, Hinata's eyes went completely wide in a matter of seconds. The three shadowed figures were massive... and definitely not human.

They were very large and muscular, with their eyes and ears covered and there mouth's were sewn shut. Even though that was what they all had in common, that and they had an inverted purple robe-like belt tied around their waist, they were different in appearance. One of them wore a dark green body suit and had hair that covered it's face, which she could just about see the sewn mouth. In it's hand, and using it's shoulder for support, was a giant studded metal club that looked like it could smash someone up into paste.

The other one was the exact opposite of the first, as it was shirtless and wore dark pants. It was also bald and had multiple scars on top of it's head, a white blindfold covering it's eyes and ears. It had a thorn-like weapon, strapped to each arm which was tied up with white gauze and looked like it pierce almost anything with enough force put behind it.

The final one was not like the other two. His entire upper half of it's body, from his waist to the top of it's head, was covered up in white bandages, his lower half covered by brown pants. That wasn't the only thing that made it different. It's head was in an awkward and had several pins on it as well, like it was trying to keep the wrappings on it's head. It didn't have any arms either, so thus it didn't wield any sort of weapon. Maybe that was what the pins were for?

When the demon with the scars took a step, it felt like an earthquake beneath Hinata. But when they all started to move forward in unison, it felt like the whole earth was shaking. Fear started to grip Hinata like a vice, but in the end there was nothing she could do. Even if her wrists weren't bound together, she'd still have no way of escaping. There weren't any exits and jumping off the building was a clear no-go. Even jumping to the building adjacent to one she was on would be a huge risk.

Another earthquake-like footstep brought Hinata back to the present, and before she knew it, the three giant creatures were looking down on her. Up close, the demonic creatures were terrifying, the missing features on this faces making it even more so. They all then raised their weapons, a foot for the no armed demon, and were just about to crush, pierce and stomp Hinata into nothingness.

So when they swung their weapons down, the ravenette instinctively closed her eyes and waited. But instead of being killed, she heard the sound of monstrous grunts, followed by a crashing sound coming from the further side of the roof. Her eyes opened when she heard that, and in front of her were two people. Two familiar people that were sight for sore eyes.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata cried out with joy. Said girl was standing in front of her in her school uniform, side by side with the Demon Hunter she had been facing only moments ago. The pinkette turned her head so that her emerald green eye met her white ones.

"Are you alright, Hinata?" she asked. The ravenette responded with a nod, which earned a smile in return. The pinkette turned her attention back to the demons that were now standing back up, and even without seeing their eyes, and mouths sewn shut, their body language alone was enough to give out murderous intent.

But if she knew Sakura, then she had nothing to worry about.

* * *

"So what's the plan Haruno?" Ino asked, watching the demons stand up tall after they were blown back. She waited for a response, but didn't get one. She turned her blue gaze to the girl next to her. "Haruno?"

"The plan is that you stay with Hinata and I'll take care of them," she responded, making the blonde's eyes grow wide.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" the girl shouted. What on earth was making the pink haired girl say that? Unless it had something to do with being the sister of Yukiko? When she voice that question out loud, she still didn't get a response, but for just a second, the girl's body tensed, and that was when she knew she was right. "You've got to kidding me. Being Yukiko-onēchan's sister shouldn't have anything to do with this!"

"Like hell it doesn't!" roared Sakura, causing Ino to be taken aback. The look she was being given made any comeback that the blonde thought of, to stay stuck in her throat. "Whatever technique you used during your fight with me has left you drained. If it wasn't for your willpower, you would be on the floor right now, unable to move."

Ino couldn't say anything back to that. After all, what she said was true. Even right now, it was taking all that she had to stand there, let alone have this conversation with the pinkette. She looked at the ground, her hand tightening into a fist out of frustration. When a hand was placed on her shoulder, Ino turned her gaze up. The pinkette had closed the distance and now she was giving the blonde a caring look.

"If you got hurt now, I wouldn't be able face Yuki-chan. Besides..." Sakura glared at the three monsters that were just standing there, unmoving, "Those demons aren't normal. By now, they would have attacked and not let us have this conversation."

Her gaze, again, went back to the demons. The pinkette was right. Normally, those demon by now would attack. But instead they were waiting there, like they were listening out for orders to follow. The blonde Demon Hunter let out a sigh.

"I understand," said the blonde. "Then at least let me give you a hand." Before the pinkette could ask, Ino began to do her hand signs. Once finished, she placed her hand on the Sakura's arm and in an instant the pinkette was back in her demonic form once more.

The girl looked at herself in shock. "Why am I-?!"

"I transferred all my remaining power to you," she told her. Her legs started to feel heavy and was about to fall but Sakura caught her before she could.

"Are you alright, Yamanaka?!"

"I-I'm fine," she replied weakly. "I'm just a bit tired now."

"You're an complete idiot you know that," says Sakura as she slowly made her way to Hinata. Ino replied with a "Hmph" before she was set down next to the ravenette. The girl then told Hinata to turn around, so her back was facing Sakura, and summoning her scythe, cut the ropes that held her wrists together.

"Take care of her Hinata," the girl requested, to which the Hyūga girl smiled.

"Of course," she replied. "Be careful, Sakura-chan." The pinkette smiled confidently, nodding her head, and turned on her heel.

"Haruno," Ino called out, the girl stopping and turning to look at the blonde. "Don't you dare die on me. You and I still have a lot to talk about. You got that, Billboard Brow?" The demon girl smiled at that, but gave a nod in agreement. She then turned back to carry out the task at hand. When she was out of ear shot, Ino spoke up.

"You know Hyūga-san?" Ino called out, looking up. The white eyed girl's gaze was still on the pinkette, watching her go into battle with the three muscled demons.

"What is it, Yamanaka-san?"

"You were right. About Haruno," she said. She didn't get a verbal reply, but the nod of her told her that she agreed. And now the only thing the both of them could do at this point was watch on and wait for the pinkette's victory.

* * *

As Sakura made her way toward the three towering demons, that were standing a few yards before her, she felt rejuvenated. The remaining power that Ino had given her, was able to get rid of any fatigue that she had from her last fight. Not only did it get rid of that, but the pinkette was able to change back into her demonic form without herself activating it. It felt amazing. This power plus Izanami's, it felt like she could do anything. But she knew that it wouldn't last forever. Couple minutes at most.

Which meant that was the allotted time Sakura had to deal with these demons.

Wanting to bring this extremely long night to a close, Sakura tapped into the power which she decided to use only as a last resort. "Amatarasu..." was the word the girl whispered and as soon as she did, her demonic eye began to glow, burning through the darkness of the night. Her left arm was instantly engulfed by black flames and she noticed something was off. Using her right hand, the pinkette touched the cheek under her left eye and was surprised to feel nothing. Normally when she used this technique, blood would pour out from her demonic eye's socket.

But there was nothing. It was completely blood free. And that wasn't the only thing that surprised her. There was no headaches. Her vision wasn't going blurry. She felt completely fine. Was this because of the blonde's Demon Hunter power? Whatever it was, Sakura was going to absolutely use it at it's fullest.

* * *

Tayuya couldn't stop her eyes from growing wide from what she just witnessed. As she was watching the pink haired girl make her way towards her puppets, the younger demon girl had activated a power that few could ever defeat. Amatarasu, the never ending flames of destruction. As far as she knew there was one person, and only one person, who had that same exact power.

The Demon King, Uchiha Sasuke.

 _It was that bitch wasn't it...?_ Tayuya cursed in her thoughts, remembering a certain human female that the girl's father had brought to the demon realm so many years ago. The pinkette's eyes narrowed and her smirk returned to her face. That didn't matter now. She was dead. And her offspring was right there, a few buildings away from the flute playing demon. She wasn't the kind of person to believe in destiny and all of that crap, but it felt like this was fate. Fate that brought the other pinkette to her. And it would be fate that Tayuya would kill her.

With those devilish thoughts in mind, Tayuya brought the flute back to her lips. She blew into the mouth piece, and finally ordered the Doki to attack the younger girl.

* * *

 _Here they come!_

The sewn mouths of the demons opened up slightly, but it was enough to hear the devastating roar coming from each of their throats. She was used to it, but if a normal person heard that there would no doubt be a puddle beneath their feet. Once they shut they jaws, their attack began.

It was the scarred bald one that started, disappearing in a blink of an eye. When Sakura sensed murderous intent behind her she quickly looked, the girl's heterochromatic sight seeing the massive demon thrust it's thorn-like weapon down on her. The pinkette jumped high into the air, dodging the incoming attack and watched the weapon meant for her impale the ground where she had once stood.

Before Sakura could counter attack, she felt another presence. This time on her right. Turning her head, she was met with the sight of the gauze wrapped demon and it came at her with a kick. Using her right arm to cover her face and chest, the lower appendage made contact. What the demon lacked with arms it made up for in leg strength. The attack was strong and because of it, Sakura was sent sailing through the air, straight into the hair covered demon, it's giant studded club already swinging in a downwards arc.

There was nothing the pinkette could do to parry or dodge, so when it hit her, she got the full brunt of it. It felt like the demon girl was hit by a train that carried the heaviest cargo in it's carriages, and she smashed into the hard concrete beneath her soon after. _Damn... it..._ Sakura cursed, the pain being overwhelming. The girl wouldn't even be surprised if her entire body was fractured from that. She tried my best to get up, but all she could manage was to get on her hands and knees, gasping for breath.

It was when she felt something looming over her, did Sakura look up from where she was. This time all three of the demons were attacking, falling from the sky at a fast velocity. And since they were coming at her at such a fast speed, the pinkette could only stare at them, wide eyed, as they crushed her beneath their feet like a bug.

Moments before their giant feet's did just that, Sakura heard a faint, gentle voice, like someone was whispering into my ear. For reasons she couldn't explain, her chest, no, her entire body felt warm. The pink haired girl didn't know who the voice belonged to, yet at the same time it felt like she had known it for a long time. And that voice, told her something. And before she knew it, Sakura was saying those exact words. Those words being...

"Amaterasu no Tsubasa..."

* * *

Her fingers continued to dance over the hole of the flute as she played the final melody. Tayuya opened her eyes to see her three demon servants fall from the night sky and crush the little fuck of a demon like the insect that she was. The demon girl let the last note play for a while, revelling in the victory that she had just attained, before she stopped. A smile plagued her lips as she moved her mouth away from the silver wind instrument.

"Tch, pathetic," Tayuya commented, clicking her tongue as she did. Honestly, the girl was expecting more. Out of all the people she had hoped for a challenge, she was hoping that Sakura would be that person. After all she had the power of Amaterasu. Plus the fact that she was the daughter, of-

Her thoughts were cut off by a sudden by surge of power. Her brown eyes widened when she knew where the power was coming from and so, when she looked back to where her Doki were at, their body's were suddenly blown back by a powerful force. A figure, that was as fast as the peregrine falcon, flew up high into the air. And that figure was none other than Haruno Sakura herself.

"What the fuck? You're... joking right?" she asked to no one. But even if someone did answer, they would tell me what her what she already knew. That it was no joke. On the back of the young pinkette were wings made completely out of black flames. And upon seeing them, somewhere deep inside her gut, it was telling her that she was going to lose. Lose against the now flying demon.

 _No way!_ Tayuya protested. _No way in hell I'm going to let that little shit get the best of me!_ She would never be able to live with knowing that she was beating by this pathetic excuse of a demon.

With anger and fury now the only thing running through her veins, Tayuya forcefully placed her flute back onto her lips and began to play an aggressive melody, one that expressed her feelings clearly.

* * *

"Amazing..." Sakura whispered to herself. Completely in awe with what was going on with her own body.

One moment she was on the ground, about to be crushed by the three massive demons, who were probably heavy like a whale. The next moment, Sakura heard a gentle voice, telling her a name. She could still feel the warmth that had suddenly embraced me. And now the girl was high in the air. The black flames that had surrounded her left arm had disappeared and instead, was transferred onto her back. They felt like extension of the pinkette's body and not something that felt out of place.

Sakura didn't know what was going on, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The sound of movement brought her two-toned gaze down below. The three demons were starting to get up and that was all the signal she needed to know that it was time to end this long day. Extending her arm out, she grasped her blue tinted scythe that appeared in front of her left palm. Once the familiar weight of her weapon was wrapped around my fingers, Sakura swung to her side and flew down, with the help of her new wings.

Her target was the blindfolded demon, whom looked up to see the pink haired girl coming at it. Confirming she was charging at it, the demon thrust it's arm upwards, hoping to impale her face first. And at the speed Sakura was going at then it would happen. But this was now the time to turn the tables.

When the girl was close enough to the thorn-like weapon, she turned and twisted around the threatening appendage, her back facing the demon's arm. About half way, Sakura flipped herself around and swung her scythe towards it. The sharp silver metal sliced through the demon's arm, cutting through thick flesh and big bone, clean off and all Sakura heard after that was a huge roar of pain. The bald demon grasp at the it's now stumped arm as red crimson began to spurt out in quick bursts.

She watched as it sunk to it's knees, practically defeated. But Sakura couldn't enjoy the small victory yet. She took to the air once more, and felt a sudden gust of wind beneath her feet. It was the metal studded club of the long haired demon, and instead of hitting Sakura, the demon conveniently smashed it's weapon into the scarred demon's skull. She could hear the cracking sound from all the way up here and in the next moment, the bald demon hit the floor, hopefully now out of commission.

 _This is my chance!_

Without missing a beat, Sakura dove down, her hair and robe-like overcoat rustling violently through the wind. The moment it tilted it's head up the pinkette swung her body around, so that now her waraji covered feet were now at the bottom. Thanks to the dive, she came in fast and hard so before the demon had time to swat her away, she landed on it's head. Sakura could feel it's head snapping back, the sound echoing clearly in her ears, and she forced it down, it's head hitting the hard rooftop concrete.

 _Just one more left_ she told myself, as Sakura stood upon the demon wearing a body suit. She turned her heterochomatic gaze to the final demon that was standing a few yards away. It stood there motionless, and that confirmed what she thought. These demons were being ordered to attack, which meant they were just puppets.

But, puppet or not, they were still dangerous. Especially if they were being controlled.

With that thought in her head, Sakura stepped down from the demon below her and the instant her feet touched the ground,the third demon roared and ran straight towards the younger demon. She let out a sigh, but her eyes narrowed with determination. She raised herself off the ground and flew off towards the demon like an arrow being shot towards it's target. With her free hand, when she and the gauze wrapped demon were close enough, Sakura reached out and grasped it's bandaged head.

Once she had a good grip, she pushed forward, forcing the demon off it's feet. Then, she flew up toward the night's sky, dragging the heavy thing with her. High in the sky, she began to spin herself around. And around. And around. Getting faster each time she went three hundred sixty degrees. After a few more rotations, with all her strength and letting out a war cry, Sakura threw the demon down back towards the rooftop, said demon now sailing down to join it's fellow demons.

The pinkette gave chase, making sure that it wouldn't be getting up any time soon. When she was close, she started to assault it with many slash attacks. Left. Right. Up. Down. Diagonal. Horizontal. Vertical. Sakura struck the demon with every combination of attacks she could think of. And for each strike she inflicted, the demon would get a deep gash, blood escaping out of the wound. The demonic eyed girl finished it all off with her twisting her body around and kicking the demon in it's spine.

It joined the others as it hit the rooftop and she soon followed, landing next to the, hopefully, unconscious body. Sakura breathed heavily as she watched the demon on the ground, waiting to see if it, or the other two, would move. When they didn't, she let out sigh of relief.

It was finally finished.

* * *

Rage. Pure, uncontrollable rage was the only thing that was running through her body as Tayuya watch her three Doki servants get taken to the ground, unmoving. The grip on her flute tightened, to the point that she could feel it slowly bend. They were defeated. Which meant in turn that _she_ was defeated. She was beaten by the girl that should have been pathetic and weak.

"Damn you..." she growled, baring her teeth that were clenched tightly together. "Damn you... Sakura."

She would pay. Haruno Sakura would rue the day that she messed with her. Tayuya would take something precious away from her, and make her feel sorry for ever crossing her. But it wouldn't be tonight. She's been out for far too long and if her father were to find out...

She wasn't afraid of the old man, far from it, but if she was forced to stay in the demon realm for disobeying him, then she wouldn't be able to take her revenge on the pink haired girl. So it was best to play the good girl... for now. Even though she didn't like it one fucking bit.

With that reluctant thought, Tayuya turned from were she was and walked away, vanishing into a thin air, along with her demons. Heading for the demon realm.

* * *

When Tayuya did return home, she closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of death and torture and her senses slowly began to clear up. She really preferred the air here than the human realm's. Their's was just too nice, too clean. It was rotten. But being back, were she was born, was starting to make her mood much better.

"Tayuya!"

But her happy moment was only for a second, before her mood soured once more. Especially because the person calling her name was the last person that she wanted to see. The girl opened her eyes, and glared at the girl that was standing only a few feet away from her.

Her younger sister, Sarada. The onyx haired girl had her arms and she was glaring, well trying to glare, at Tayuya, her eyes narrowed into a scowl. Seeing her with that face made the pinkette smile. But right now she couldn't be bothered dealing with her. So Tayuya decided to not say anything, placed her hands behind her head and walked on.

Or tried to anyway. As soon as she was next her she called out to the older girl again, this time venom was laced in her voice.

"Tayuya!"

"What the fuck you want?" Tayuya finally answered with annoyance. Just hearing the younger girl's voice was a huge headache.

"Why were you in the human realm?" she asked. It looked like she already knew where Tayuya was. "You do know that we're not allowed to go unless told to by father."

Scratch that. She was giving the pinkette a migraine instead. "So what if I did?" she told her. "It was starting to get boring in here. So I went for a little walk."

"And that 'walk' happened to have involved Haruno Sakura did it?" Tayuya narrowed my eyes. _Has she been spying on me this entire time?_ That thought creeped her out, but mostly, it just irritated her. "If father knew that you went to the human world, or more importantly fighting against Haruno Sakura-"

"What? A failure like you going to tell him?" Sarada's eyes widened, surprise written all over her features, when she heard the 'failure' said out loud. Her body had stiffened, and the brown eyed girl smiled at that. "That's right. I heard about what happened. How you, daddy's little girl, almost died by our father's hand. How he even called you a failure of a daughter, a waste of space."

For each sentence Tayuya spoke, the younger girl's body grew even more tense. Her hands were now balled into fists, the nails digging in tightly into her palms. If she did that any longer then they would no doubt draw blood. She didn't care though. Slowly she made her way towards her sister, put her face next to hers and whispered in her ear.

"Why don't you think about that before you decide anything."

That was all Tayuya said to her before she turned on my heel and left the girl standing there, heading towards the old, tall Japanese structure. Her mood was still slightly sour and she had a lot of frustration building up inside of her. Frustration that needed a release.

 _Maybe I should go fuck one of those female slaves?_ she thought, the grin creeping on her face.

She could already hear the screams of pain and pleasure in her ears. It sent a pleasant chill down her spine.

* * *

"Welcome to our café, goshujinsama!" Tenten and Hinata said cheerfully to the couple that had opened the door.

It was now Saturday, a couple of days after Sakura had defeated the three demons that resembled the three wise monkeys, and today was the day of the school festival. In the end, the class of 2-B had ended up doing a maid café for their festival and surprisingly enough, they've been getting quite a few customers. Some of the tables in the room had been pushed together, and were covered with white table clothes with frills at the end. And at the back of the classroom was a huge red curtain, were the girls, who were wearing their normal school uniforms, were cooking, using the utensils and cookers from the cooking clubs supply.

Once they greeted the couple that came in, another girl wearing a maid's uniform, which had been made a someone in her class, took them to their seats. And once they were gone, Tenten let out a tired sigh.

"Maaan, I'm getting tired," she said, "and my jaws starting to hurt from all of the smiling I've been doing."

"Don't worry Tenten," the ravenette told her with a smile. "It won't be long now until we go on our breaks."

"That's easy for you to say Hinata. You do this for your part-time job so you're used it," she said. "But I can't really complain though. I mean, I really feel sorry for the customers." The older girl used her thumb to point toward the deeper part of the classroom and when she looked, that was when Hinata knew what she was talking about.

Standing next to one of the tables was Sakura, who was also wearing one of the maid uniforms, and in her hand was a note pad. But she could see why Tenten felt sorry for them. The customers looked scared by Sakura's presence. She was given them a cold look, which was actually her normal expression, and she spoke in a monotone voice. While the maid uniform looked good on her, the downside of it was that it exposed her left arm. So she had to wear the gauze wrappings to cover her demonic arm, so as too not scare the customers even more.

Hinata let out a nervous laugh. "I-I'm sure she'll be alright..." Tenten however just gave her a sceptical look. Thankfully she was saved by the door to their classroom opening and the white eyed girl turned around to greet them. "Welcome to our caf-!" But she stopped, halfway, when she realized that the person that had walked through the door was someone she knew.

"Yamanaka-san?"

"Good afternoon, Hyūga-san," she greeted, then turned her gaze toward Tenten. She went quiet for a second, two seconds, three. Then, she returned her gaze back to Hinata. "Is Haruno-san here?"

"DON'T JUST IGNORE ME AGAIN!" Tenten screamed out loud. She knew it was harsh, but Hinata wanted to laugh. Thankfully she was able to control herself, and decided to answer the blonde's question.

"Yes she is," she told her. "She's just over there." The girl pointed in the direction she was in. She was in the middle of taking an order, but she knew that this was important. Apologising to the customers in her mind, Hinata called out to Sakura. When she turned, she gave the ravenette a quizzical look, but when she saw Ino standing next to her, it changed to a serious one.

When the pinkette made her way towards her, all she could hope for was that everything would be alright.

* * *

Since the café wasn't an ideal place to talk, Sakura, Ino and Hinata made their way to the roof. Tenten suggested that she stay behind and help out with the café, still probably feeling a bit hurt for being forgotten about. Twice.

Normally, the wind hitting her skin would be pleasant, but right now it wasn't. She felt anxious as she watched Sakura and Ino stare down one another, the wind playing around with their bangs.

"So," Sakura started. "Have you come to a decision, Yamanaka?"

"That's right," she replied, closing her eyes to think. There was only silence for a moment. Neither Hinata nor Sakura spoke a word while the Demon Hunter gathered her thoughts. The other reason why she didn't say anything was because she didn't know what they were talking about. But whatever it was, it stopped them from being at each other's throats. Finally, the girl opened her eyes.

"I can't forgive you for what happened to my sister," she continued. "At the end of it all, you left her to die." Sakura turned her gaze to the ground, and looked hurt. Hinata really wanted to go over there and comfort her but she knew she couldn't. This was between the two of them, and she couldn't be part of whatever this was. Besides, she was really curious about who this sister was.

"But I can't hate you either. Onē-chan wouldn't want that." the pinkette's head shot up from that. "You've probably already guessed this, but Yukiko-onēchan was also a Demon Hunter," she continued. "But she hated that life. She wanted to be a florist instead. She was always outside of our house by the flower beds, tending to the flowers.

"But when I was old enough to take the trials, to become a Demon Hunter, she left. And went to study somewhere in the city of Japan."

"And that's how I met her," Sakura said, Ino nodding in agreement. "Tell me, Yamanaka. Did Yuki-chan only talk to me, because she knew that I was a demon to begin with? Was she only pretending to be friend?"

"She probably, no, most defiantly knew you were one. But that wouldn't be the reason why she approach you. You know better than everyone what she was like? She was kind and gentle. She cared more about other people than herself. Which is why she protected you that night."

"I see." A gentle smile graced Sakura features. "So what are you going to do now?"

The blonde didn't answer straight away. She turned on her heel, so that her back was now facing the two girls, and made her way to the cross wired fence. "At the beginning, all I cared about was finding the person who was with my sister during her final moments. That was all I ever thought about. But now that it's over..."

The girl paused for couple of seconds, before she turned back to face the two of them. "I've decided to stay in Konohagakure for a while. I've started working part-time at a florist shop, do something that Yukiko-onēchan wanted to do. They've also got a room to rent for people working there as well so, I've got somewhere to stay.

"Plus... I like this school a lot. I want to learn like a normal student. Much like you, Haruno-san."

"I see," said Sakura, her smile still there. But then it was gone and she became serious. "That's good then." Ino cocked an eyebrow at that, wondering what the pinkette meant by that. "You still owe Hinata an apology for what you put her through."

"R-Right," Ino agreed, nodding her head.

"And another thing," Sakura continued. This time, she cleared the gap between her and Ino. Hinata was wondering what she going to do and she got her answer when Sakura balled up one of her hands into fists and punched Ino right in her cheek. The blonde hit the ground, landing on her backside, tenderly cupping her cheek the pinkette had just punched. When the blonde asked what the reason was she did that, she simply replied:

"That's for trying to take over my body... Ino-pig."

She smiled honestly after saying that last part.

* * *

 **And there we go, another chapter finished. I'm guess by that you guy's not saying anything last chapter, that this style of writing is alright to understand? (I hope anyway).**

 **Right, now to the thing I wanted to say. The next chapter or two will be about the summer vacation and I was wondering, from the characters you seen so far, if there was anything you would like to see during the summer of this story. So while I plan my chapters for the summer vacation, it'll give you a chance to think up something you want to see.**

 **So, if there's a chapter you like to see happen during the summer vacation period please let me know.** **(Only if you want to of course.)**

 **Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	26. The Beginning Of Summer

**Hey guys, and welcome back to another chapter of Demonic Love. Sorry it's been so long, but it's the usual of me getting distracted easily, playing games like the Fate Extella and Dreamfall Chapters and Injustice 2, so on and so fourth. Plus I still get a lot of writers block so I need to stop every now and again.**

 **But I do want you to know that even though I don't update often now, I'm not going to abandon this story or Kunoichi's Stolen Heart (that is currently on hiatus). I AM going to finish these stories so there is no need to worry on that end. And if you hav stuck by me and this story so far then I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

 **Anyway, on to the thanks.**

 **-LoneWolf-Jcg (Favourite/Follow)  
-Sarcastic Rain (Follow/Favorited me)  
-abbydobbie (Favourite)**

 **Reviews:**

 **-Captain Jack S - I'm very happy to know that this story impresses you and you don't mind the long wait which I really do appreciate it.**

 **-Rigar93 - If you read this know that I have seen your review on chapter 17. I'm glad you found Tenten's arc to be a great**

 **Like always,** **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: While you read this, if you see anything that regards a character talking in the first person (excluding speech and thoughts) then I'll apologies for that also. It's because I write it all first in the 1st person perspective before go over it and rewrite it in the 3rd person.**

* * *

"Alright everyone," Hatake Kakashi began, addressing the students of his class of 2-B. Today was the last day of school before summer vacation began and all the girls were excited. They had been talking about their plans for what they were doing, like either going away with families, spending time with boyfriends, and other things. So when their homeroom teacher spoke up, the girl's had stopped talking immediately, like they all had the same off switch.

"As you all know, tomorrow will be the start of your summer," he continued. The mask that was on the white haired man's face covered his expression, but his one open eye showed all. "And, by the looks on your faces, you are all excited. But before that all happens, there a few things I need to say and do first." Saying that, Kakashi lifted up a few papers from the podium stand that was in front of him. The smile in his eye now had a glint in it. "And one of the things is: the results of exams."

The groans of all the girls echoed in the room, as the teacher placed a stack of papers at the front of one desk before doing the same to the others. The papers were then passed back, until they were all given out. Hinata held her breath, the sound of her heart pounding loudly in her ears. It was only when the ravenette saw what her scores were, did she let out a long sigh of relief.

The girl had passed, barely. Her scores were just above the required amount needed to pass. And if she was honest, Hinata was even surprised that she did. After all that has been happening in the last couple of days, studying had been last thing on her mind. She even had to pull an all nighter one time she was that far behind. But it was all worth it in the end. Besides the homework they had over the time off, this meant she didn't have to attend summer school.

The sound of subtle groans reached her ears and that brought Hinata back. _That's right_ she thought as realization hit her. Just because she passed, didn't mean that everyone else would. Thinking that, the ravenette turned her white gaze to her best friend. From the angle she was at, Hinata couldn't see the expression on her face. But, by the way she held the sheets of paper tightly, Hinata could only come to the conclusion that she had either passed or failed. _I hope its the former._ She then shifted her gaze away from Tenten, to look behind her.

Sakura's emerald eye was staring intently at the sheets of paper in her hands. Unlike Tenten, Hinata could clearly see the pinkette's face, but her expression was neutral. The ravenette's face quickly flushed red when the pinkette's one eye suddenly looked up into Hinata's white pools, probably knowing that she was being watched, and when she was caught staring, she turned her head back around. Her heart was now pounding hard in her chest and the blush on the girl's face intensified. It took all she had to listen to the rest of what her homeroom teacher was saying.

"Has everyone got their results?" the masked man asked rhetorically, his own one eye scanning the room. "Good. For the people that have passed, I hope you enjoy your summer and have fun. But not too much. As for the people who didn't..." The glint in his eye returned. "I guess I'll see you in August." And with those words, Kakashi told us that homeroom was over and we could leave after the bell goes, before taking off himself.

When he was finally gone, everyone started to speak at once. Some were happy with what they got and some were upset. And Hinata knew that it was harsh to think, but she didn't really care what the girl's got. The only one she cared about was Sakura's test score. So with that thought in mind, the ravenette made her way towards her desk and she saw that Sakura was still looking at her results.

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata called out to her. There was a long pause, but she didn't get an answer. She was still staring intently at the paper. Curiosity got the best of the white eyed girl and so she made her way behind the younger girl. The scent of shampoo that Sakura had used assaulted her nose and it was hard not to breath it in. But when she saw her score from her tests, Hinata nearly forgot how to breathe all together.

 _100%!?_

"Are you okay, Hinata?" the pinkette asked her, Hinata being too much in shock about her score to realize that she had turned to look at her. Trying to gain back her composure, Hinata answered her with a steady voice... sort of.

"I-I'm fine," she told her. "I'm just a little surprised about the score you got."

"So, this is good?"

 _Good?_ She found myself thinking. Getting the top score meant that she would be the smartest in their class. If the other girls found out about this then no doubt that she would be asked to help them study. The jealous side of Hinata didn't like that. She know she didn't belong to anyone, Sakura was her own person. But the raven haired girl didn't want to share her with anyone else. But she obviously wasn't going to say anything out loud.

"It's really good," The older girl finally answered. "It means that you don't have to go to summer school."

"I see," Sakura replied nodding.

The bell soon rang through the school, signalling the end of the day and, to the students, the beginning of summer. Everyone began to file out of the room, some in high spirit, and some with their heads down, knowing that they would be attending summer school. Sakura grabbed her bag, stood up from her chair and she and Hinata, too, made their way towards the classroom's door. When she was near Tenten's desk, the girl stopped. The brunette was still sitting at her desk, the paper's clutched in her hands tightly.

"What's wrong Tenten," Sakura asked her. The older girl didn't answer straight away, there was a long pause. When she did finally speak, her voice sounded broken, laced with despair.

"My summer..." she moaned. "My summer... it's... it's..."

That was when Hinata realized what she meant. It looked like it was the latter after all.

* * *

Hinata's cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket as she, Sakura and Tenten were making their way back home from school. The brunette was still sulking about her test scores, muttering to herself that her summer was ruined, even though summer school was only for a couple of days. Seeing the caller ID, it belonged to her part-time job. She wasn't working tonight, so it whatever it was it must have been important. Without having to thing about it, the ravenette tapped the button and put it on her ear.

"Hello? Manager?"

"Hello, Hyūga-chan?" the voice of her boss, Jiraiya, the manager of the Sannin Café, spoke through the phone. She and the other girl's that Hinata worked with, didn't know his second name so they decided to call him boss or manager. He didn't like that and insisted that they'd call him by his name. But they all chose to ignore that and called him by the other names. He was also a writer, and had wrote the series that Hinata's homeroom teacher enjoys all too much.

"I'm sorry to call just after you've finished school and I know that you're not working tonight," he continued, his voice taking a grim tone. "But I've got bad news." Her heart began to pound hard and loud within her chest, the palm of her hands beginning to sweat. What was wrong? Did something happen to the café?

"It's terrible," he said. "One of the girl's, she..." One of the girls? Did he mean one of her colleagues? What had happened to her? The more questions that entered her head, the more Hinata began to worry. The girl held her breath, waiting to hear what her boss was going to say next. "...She has called in sick!"

". . . Huh?" Hinata made a noise. That was the terrible thing? That one of her friends from work was ill? _Oh, that's right_ I thought. There was also something else about the girl's boss that she and the others had figured out. And that thing was the fact that her manager, Jiraiya, was also a...

"Isn't that horrible!" he cried. "Now I'm going to be one girl short tonight. And she looked good in that maid outfit too. The way her cleavage bounced every time she moved. The black, knee-length stockings wrapped around her perfect white skin..."

... a pervert.

"A-Anyway, I'm getting off track," he said, realizing what he was saying. "I called to ask if you would be able to cover her shift tonight?"

Hinata let out an inward sigh. It was amazing how he became manager of a popular café, with a bunch of female staff, without getting beating up like a pulp.

"That's fine," she replied, nodding even though he couldn't see it. Hinata wasn't planning on working tonight, but with the extra money in hand, it might come in handy. Jiraiya happily said thanks many times, before he hung up, saying that he would see her later.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked when she hung up.

"It was my manager," she told her. "One of my friends from work is ill, so he asked me to cover for her." Once told, Hinata gave Sakura an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but you'll have to head home without me." But she just shook her head and told her that it was alright, giving the ravenette an understanding smile. She smiled back, gave her thanks and said goodbye to Sakura and Tenten, before making her way to the Sannin Café.

* * *

"Thank you and come again!"

Hinata bowed her head and watched as another customer left the Sannin Café with a satisfied smile on their face. When they went through the door she let out a little sigh and turned on her heel. The sun was now setting below the horizon, making the sky an orange, purplish colour and thanks to that it gave the retro, modern café an nice glow.

There was still plenty of people inside the café. A few people using the booths next to the windows, cars passing by as couples or friends chattered to one another. Some where using the wooden tables that were spread about the room. And one, or two, were sitting at the counter, relaxing with their cup of coffees in hand. Hinata watched as her friends, the other waitresses, were either happily taking orders from customers, serving the food and drinks with skill and swiftness. And she could hear some of the girls from behind the counter which led to the kitchen.

"Good work, Hyūga-chan," the voice of her boss brought the girl to attention. When he stood next her, he continued. "Thanks for coming in today on your day off."

She shook her head at his thanks. "It's no problem, manager," Hinata replied honestly. Even though she couldn't fight demons, there were other things that she could do. And that was helping people when they needed it. Like the café for example. It had been extremely busy as soon as she came in, and if there had been even one person down, then the girl's would have struggled with it.

"It's a shame the other girl couldn't turn up," Jiraiya continued. "Oh how I would have loved to see..." The man's eyes widened, like he realized were was at the moment and closed his eyes before he coughed into a closed fist. "A-Anyway, it looks like someone else is coming in. Keep up the good work, Hyūga-chan." With that, Hinata's boss turned on his heel and walked away. She let out another sigh. The ravenette really did wonder how he managed to become a boss of a popular café.

Hearing the jingle of the door's bell, she also turned on her heel. She was about to greet the new customer with her natural smile until she saw familiar pink locks and an emerald gaze. "S-Sakura-chan?!" Hinata cried in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She didn't know where she had gone after the girl had left, but by the way she still had her school uniform on, that meant that she hasn't been home yet.

"I went with Tenten to Rāmen Ichiraku after you left. But after an hour, I couldn't stay there any longer," she explained, her eyes and posture looking completely exhausted. Hinata wondered why she looked so tired and began to worry. But when she finished her story, she understood completely. "She wouldn't stop going on about how her summer was ruined and everyone there began to stare at us."

Hearing that, the ravenette let out a nervous laugh. Was she still sulking about that? Summer school really was only on for a few days. When I eventually stopped laughing, it was time to carry on with the task at hand. The pinkette was now a customer, and she could talk to her all she liked back at home. With that thought, Hinata returned to work mode.

"Can I show you to a table?" she asked her.

She shook her head. "It's alright. I'll just head to the counter and be out of your way."

Hinata gave a nod in understanding, getting a nod back. Then, she made her way towards the counter, like she said she would, and ordered a coffee from the boss. Hinata had watched her make her way to her destination and when the raven haired girl realized that she was staring at her she blushed, hard. Shaking her head, she returned to work, but with great difficulty. Every once in a while, as she served customers, Hinata would turn her white gaze toward the counter. And every once in a while, as she drank the coffee, her one emerald gaze would meet her own and she would smile a gentle smile that would only be for her.

The girl's heart pounded in her chest, and her face flushed even more from that. She forced herself to look away and try to carry on with what she was doing. But to no avail. Because now she was completely aware of Sakura's presence. And once Hinata knew that, she started to make a few mistakes, such as giving a few customers the wrong order, or nearly ending up spilling the caffeinated beverages. The girl couldn't believe how much having Sakura at her work place affected me so much. It was probably because she had a crush on her, and knowing that her crush was there and sometimes watched her, made her feel anxious.

But, luckily or unluckily enough, that anxiety didn't last long. Because of what happened next.

The doors to the café were suddenly thrown open, the bell jingling violently against the force. Every one stopped what they were doing and just stared at the one location. Behind the now opened doors stood five men. They were all well built and they only wore a vest on their torso, showing off the muscles, and tattoos, on their arms and near their necks. They also wore, dark sunglasses, balaclavas around their faces so they couldn't see who they were, and had skinny blue jeans that had seen better days.

And the last thing was... they all had guns.

"Good evening everyone!" the men spoke enthusiastically, probably the leader of the other four. "I'm very sorry to inform you that this peaceful time has turned into a robbery." Gasps could be heard, and eyes widened as the men entered the Sannin café and closed the doors behind them, making sure that no passer-by saw what was going on.

For an extra measure, as the leader continued to talk, one of the other goons made their way towards the windows and pulled down the blinds above, blocking any view and help from the outside. "Right then," the man said. "Ladies, why don't you have a seat, take a break?" But the girls and Hinata didn't move, all wondering if he was serious or not. "Take a fucking seat!"

He _was_ serious. With the sudden shout, some of the girls jumped and they did what he ordered. The leader let out a sigh. "Now was that so hard?" he asked rhetorically. "Should have done that the first time I asked."

At that moment however, fate decided to make things much, much worse. Hinata suddenly began to hear breathing. Heavy breathing. When she turned to look from her seat, I noticed it was one of the waitresses doing the heavy breathing. Her hands were balled up into fists tight on her lap and sweat had started to slide down from her forehead, making her hair stick to her face, her eyes wide in fright. If the ravenette remember correctly, the girl's name was Saginomiya Chiharu and she was one year her junior.

 _This isn't good_ she thought to herself and the girl turned out to be right. My entire being, brain and heart, were urging me to go to her. To tell her that, even though it looked bad, everything would be all right. But unfortunately, the leader noticed the panicking girl and slowly started to make his way towards her.

"Oi, girl," he called out, but Saginomiya continued to do panic, her laboured breathing blocking out the leader's voice. The man only made it worse when he slammed a closed fist onto the table the girl was sitting at. "Hey you listening?!" She let out a short scream, her breathing now growing faster by the second, but she managed to look at the leader with her frightened eyes.

"So you can hear me?" he continued. "Good, now listen to me very carefully. I'm going to give you five seconds to calm yourself down. And you don't want to know what will happen if you don't."

"B-but, I-I c-c-can't..." she stuttered, tears slowly beginning to pour out from her eyes.

Hinata couldn't see his face, the glasses and balaclava blocking the man's features, but his body language gave him away. The veins in his neck began to pop and all of a sudden he stood up. "Try," was all he said, before he pointed his pistol at the girl's head. "Five... four..." Slowly counting down only made the girl panic even more, and for the love of god was she trying to do what he told her to do. But as the countdown nearly reached zero, Hinata could see the man's finger slowly pulling the trigger.

Narrowing her eyes, she did the only thing she could do. The raven haired girl stood up from her seat and made her way towards Saginomiya, ignoring the man holding the gun and knelt down in front of the panicked girl. "Chiharu-chan," she called her, using her first name and that honorific, hoping to calm her down some. When she still shook, she called out to her the same way and this time placed her hand on her tightened fists. That got her attention, and her tearful eyes were now looking at Hinata's white gaze.

"H-Hyūga..san..." she replied with a sob.

"It's alright, Chiharu-chan. I'm here."

"I-I'm scared, Hyūga-san," she told me. Hinata's heart broke seeing her like this. The ravenette was lucky. If it hadn't been for the demons, she'd be scared too. But the girl in front of her didn't know about them and the men with the guns would be the scariest thing she'd had ever seen in her life so far.

"Chiharu-chan, listen to me," Hinata said softly, the girl nodding telling her that she was. "I want you to close your eyes and take in a deep breath and let it out." The girl nodded again and did what was asked. Her chest moved in for the inhale and out for the exhale. "Now think about friends from school and your family that love you so much." There was a beat. But after a second or so it seemed to do the trick as the girl shivering form slowly stopped and a small smile started to form on her face. When Hinata asked her if she felt better she gave the older girl another small nod and the ravenette smiled. "Good girl," she told her stroking her hair.

"Well ain't that just sweet," the man said, breaking the nice moment between the girls. Hinata turned my white eyes to the leader of the other men and glared at him, hard. She couldn't see it, but she knew that he was smiling. "I like that look in your eye. You're a lucky girl sweetheart." Saying that he moved away from the her and Saginomiya, starting to address everyone that was in the room.

"Alright people, I'm only going to say this once," he ordered. "Place your, phones, wallets, purses, jewellery, anything that's important in front of you and put your hands flat on the table."

And not a moment after those words left his mouth did they do what he asked, less they suffered the same fate the girl had nearly ended up with. When everything looked to be on the tables, the leader indicated to his men. His goons then began to go around each table and gather the items laid out. When they picked up the phones, they looked through them, probably making sure no one was stupid enough to call the police.

"Is everything accounted for?" the man asked.

"We've got it all boss!" said one goon.

"Same here!" said another, the other two also said the same thing.

"Good. Let's get the money from the cashier and..." the leader began, before he stopped speaking all of a sudden. His gaze (even though Hinata really couldn't tell) were looking towards where the counter was. Wondering why he stopped, she turned to see what he was staring at.

The girl was surprised to see that he was staring at Sakura, who was still sitting on a stool, in front of the counter, holding a coffee mug near her lips. With what was happening so far, she had almost forgotten that the pinkette was still in the café, she was that quiet. He slowly made his way toward the girl with the pink locks, and as he did, Hinata started to feel sorry... for him that is.

He was about to make a huge mistake.

* * *

"Oi, girl..."

Just as Sakura was about to take another sip of her coffee that the master had given her, she heard a man's voice coming from right next to her. A rough voice that was, to her, trying to sound authoritative but failed completely in the pinkette's mind. When she turned her head to look, Sakura's one eye met pure black lenses. Was he the one calling out to her?

"Are you deaf?" she narrowed her brows, wondering why he was asking such a strange question. "From your expression, I guess you're not. So I'm going only going to say this once more; anything valuable you've got on you, place it on the counter. Now."

There was a long pause. The girl turned her head to look behind herself and her emerald eye saw that everyone that was still in the café was staring upon her and the man with wide terrified eyes. She had wondered why it went so quiet. It looked like whatever was going on with this guy, plus the other four around the room, was serious. How come she didn't know what was going on behind her?

 _No. I know exactly why. Damn Tenten._

"Hey, you fucking listening?" the man spoke, anger in his tone, which she found rather irritating. "Put you're valuables on the counter. _Now._ "

"What sort of valuables?" Sakura asked.

"What sort of val-? Where you born somewhere far away?!" he rhetorically asked, though technically he was right. "Valuables, like your phone..."

Sakura was quick to answer. "Don't have one."

"Your purse, Jewellery..."

"Don't have any of them either."

The demon girl could hear the sound of the masked man's teeth gritting together in frustration. Without warning, he pulled the pistol that she noticed in his right hand and pointed it at her, the barrel an inch away from her forehead and his finger on the trigger. Sakura wanted to laugh at what he was doing, smile even, but she knew that if she did then he would fire from anger.

"You know?" he started, "I think you're lying. So this really will be the last time I say this; cough up whatever you've got and put it on the table before I blow your brains all over this place."

This time she let it happen. She smiled at his 'threat', the corner of her lips lifting and that pushed him over the edge. "You bitch! You're dead!" he roared out a curse, pulling the trigger at the same time. At the moment he pulled it all the way, Sakura raised her gauze wrapped hand and placed it in front of the barrel of the small weapon. The gun fired, the sound reverberating around the café, and she could feel the bullet hit her hand. But that was it. Smoke had started to come through the gaps of the girl's fingers. The glasses on the man's face nearly came off he was that surprised of what was happening.

Now, she had promised herself that she wouldn't hurt humans in anyway, shape or form, be these stupid humans deserved what they were getting. While the man was stunned, Sakura grasped the gun the man was holding and pushed it to the side. Then, placing the tip of her fingers of her right hand at the man's face, right between his eyes, she quickly made a fist, delivering a hard punch to his face. The pinkette made sure not to put in too much strength into the attack, but it was still strong enough to make a small shock-wave that blasted the man away.

* * *

Hinata watched, in amazement, as Sakura dispatched the leader of the goons with little effort. From the punch, his body landed onto one of the tables that was near the door, shattering it into pieces. The other goons called out to their fallen leader who wasn't moving a muscle. If it wasn't for the movement in his chest though, Hinata would have thought he was dead, but she knew Sakura would never do that. She held back. She didn't have to, but she did.

Standing up from her stool, the pink haired girl turned her neck, this way and that, the sound of bones snapping back into place echoing in the now silent café. Once finished, she looked at the remaining men who were just standing there, watching.

"Who's next?" she asked, and that brought them back. They raised their weapons up, and Sakura smiled, doing something that Hinata never thought that she would do. She took off her eyepatch that held the demonic eye. The moment she did the sound of gun fire from the other four men echoed, and at the same time Sakura opened her left eye, the golden-yellow, tomoe marked orb glowing. Then, everything was a blur in a literal sense.

The girl's arm was moving with lightning speed, this way and that, as the bullets flew towards her. When they finally stopped, most likely due to running out of ammunition, the only thing the ravenette could hear next was the ringing in her ears. But she didn't need her hearing to know what was going on. The pinkette stood there, her fist raised in front of her. The corner of her mouth went up as she loosened her fingers, the sound of metal clanking against wood multiple times.

The metal had turned out to be the didn't know how, but Sakura had managed to catch every single one. There was not a single hole or scratch on the pinkette, and it made the white eyed girl think that there was nothing that Sakura couldn't do.

"Third times the charm?"

There was a beat. Then, the sound of guns hitting the floor was the answer for the pinkette's question, before they all let out a yelp, saying "Let's get out of here!" or "I didn't sign up for this!" was heard from the four men. But if Hinata knew Sakura, and judging from the smirk on her pink lips suggested, she wasn't going to let this slide. With quick feet, Sakura got to the door first and with knowing that the men could only escape by going through her, they all let out a roar and charged at the demon girl.

The first thug went in with a hook, aiming for the side of Sakura's face. But with a with a quick crouch, the pinkette dodged it and when she stood back up, she chopped the man at the back of the neck, rendering unconscious as he fell to the floor. With her back turned, the second thug took this opportunity to strike, going at the pink haired girl with a fast jab with his right. But like the first attempt failed, this also got the same result.

She shifted her head to the left, caught the threatening, bulky appendage with both of her hands and threw the man over her shoulder, landing on the first man. The third chose a different approach. Grasping a flip knife from within his jean's pocket, he went to stab the girl in the back while she was crouched down. He went in fast like the second, but unfortunately for him, Sakura was much, much faster. Her elbow dug into the pit of the man's stomach, gurgling noises escaping his throat.

Then, the fourth and final man did what the others could not. He went in for a punch, shouting "I've gotcha!" before his fist landed on Sakura's cheek as she was standing up. Her head snapped to the side, the man's fist still present on the place he had hit her and smiled beneath his balaclava, knowing that he would be free.

But that spark of freedom had been snuffed out as his fist slowly started to move back, the pinkette's face moving so she was facing him once more. She grabbed his wrist, moved it away from her face. The demonic eyed girl then brought her right up toward the man's face, her thumb holding her middle finger back, before she smiled and released it, flicking underneath the man's chin. He fell back on the floor, his sunglasses coming off his face which showed his eyes had rolled at the back of his head.

All was silent once the final man had fallen. Everyone looked upon Sakura in awe as she took down five armed men with little to no effort. Hinata knew that, to Sakura, that this was just child's play to her. She had and still was facing tougher enemies than these robbers and Hinata was the only person here who knew that.

The silence was soon destroyed by the cheering and clapping from the people in the café. The pinkette looked around in confusion. She was most likely wondering why she was being clapped and cheered at and the ravenette smiled at that. She had no idea that she had helped these people and stopped their valuables from being stolen. Her dual coloured gaze turned to Hinata's white pools with a quizzical look, asking the question "What's going on?" with her eyes.

She smiled at her, telling her with her eyes not to worry about it. The confused expression never left her face but she gave a nod and with that, Hinata's night shift, that had went from busy to exciting had come to an end.

* * *

"Hey Sakura-chan? Was it alright to reveal yourself like that?"

She had asked the pinkette as she and Sakura made their way home from the Sannin Café. It had long since turned into the darkness of night and the cool evening chill of the wind was a pleasant feeling after what was a thrill of a shift. After Sakura had beaten up the five men that were robbing the café, Jiraiya had called the police, telling them what had transpired. Hinata wouldn't forget the moment when the thugs were dragged away without putting up a fight. That was only because they were knocked unconscious and the policemen were baffled as into why that was.

"It's fine Hinata," she told me, smiling. "Before we left, while everyone's attention was on me, I used my demonic eye to alter their minds."

"Altered their minds?" the older of the two repeated, finding that hard to grasp. But then again, ever since Sakura came into her life, nothing had ever been normal since. The demon girl gave a nod of her head.

"That's right. I made them forget about me and replaced their memories with something else. There's only a select few that can do this sort of thing and, depending on how many there are, it can be taxing on the person using it. Especially on someone who doesn't use it as much."

Hinata was surprised and amazed at the same time. By the way she was walking and acting, she would have never have thought the younger girl was tired right now. Then again, Sakura was rarely the one to wear her emotions on her sleeve. A pang went through Hinata at that moment. Even though she knew she was in love with this girl next to her, Hinata still didn't know her that much, a week or two at most. But that was going to change. She had an entire summer to get to know the girl better. And hopefully one day she could tell her her feelings... regardless if they were accepted or not.

"Are you alright, Hinata?"

The voice of Sakura brought the Hyūga girl back from her inner thoughts. She just shook her head and smiled. There was no need to think about that at the moment. The future was far off and what mattered was the here and now. "I'm alright. It's nothing," she told her and decided to best change the subject, less there be an awkward silence.

"Hey Sakura-chan. I was wondering," she began. "Why were you so quiet during the time the café was being robbed?" Hinata had found it strange that the girl didn't say or do anything, while the robbers had barged in, being loud as they could have been. When she asked, the younger girl's cheeks suddenly became pink.

"W-Well," she stuttered, averting her gaze away from her. Was she embarrassed to tell Hinata? "That's because I..." she started off saying but then mumble the last part. It looked like she was embarrassed.

"What was that?" she asked, urging her to repeat what she said at the end.

"I... zoned out."

"You zoned out?" Hinata repeated, and in return she gave her a nod. Her sweat dropped, the way she was making it sound was like it was something terrible.

"I was that tired from listening to Tenten's rambling about her summer being ruined back at Rāmen Ichiraku, that I tuned everything out in the café."

 _And you stared at me sometimes too, making me into a bumbling mess_ Hinata added in her thoughts but would never reveal, already feeling her face starting to become red. She was really thankful that it was night out.

"So anyway," Sakura carried on. "I was zoned out in the café, and I didn't realize what was happening until that guy in the glasses called out to me."

"I see." A beat. "Well it doesn't matter now. All that does is that you saved me, and everyone else and stopped the men from taking anything. So, thank you Sakura-chan." Hinata smiled at the end as she gave the girl, who had once called herself a monster, her gratitude. She saw a hint of pink on the the pinkette's cheeks as her one eye widened, before she faced the front.

The ravenette giggled at the sight, which only seem to fuel the redness more, before she went up close to Sakura, became slightly bold and took her left arm with her right and clasped her left hand with her own. Hinata could feel her face flush from the closeness and warmth of Sakura's body against her own. It was nice.

"H-Hinata?"

"Let's go home, Sakura-chan."

There was a short pause for a moment, and from the silence the Hyūga girl was beginning to think what she was doing now was either too much, too stupid or maybe both. But when a smile appeared on the demon girl's face, the older girl's heart swelled, knowing that she was alright with it and with a nod, she and Hinata made their way back to the Hyūga household, their home, arm in arm. Hand in hand.

Summer was only just beginning.

* * *

 **And that's the end of this chapter, but the beginning of summer vacation. Like I had said in the last chapter, if there is anything you would like to see happen during the summer vacation part, please let me know and I can try to come up with something.**

 **For me I've got maybe 3 stories for this summer. One is Ino and Tenten's, one for Konan and another on for Hinata and Sakura (which at the end will link into the next arc and for another character to will be introduced). I'll probably give a few days and if there is no one that wants to say anything I'll make a start on the chapters I'm going to write.**

 **Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	27. Ino's Redemption Part 1

**Hello one and all and here is another chapter of Demonic Love. Like I had said on the note last chapter, this chapter will belong to Ino and Tenten. I had originally planned to make this a chapter on it's own, but like the chapter name says I made into two parts. It would have been too long otherwise, and I want the summer vacation parts of the story to not be so long as the pain parts.**

 **Anyway, as always, time for the thanks:**

 **-OokamiKing (Follow/Favourite)  
-EvilSakurarules (Follow)  
-KellytheKid (Follow/Favourite)  
-principelives51 (Favourite)  
-Danteshadow373 (Favourite)**

 **Reviews:**

 **-KellytheKid - I hope you enjoy this chapter like the last.**

 **Like always,** **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: While you read this, if you see anything that regards a character talking in the first person (excluding speech and thoughts) then I'll apologize for that also. It's because I write it all first in the 1st person perspective before go over it and rewrite it in the 3rd person.**

* * *

August. The time when summer truly began. The sun was blazing over the city of Konohagakure, not a cloud in the sky as far as the eye could see. It was a great time to do many activities, such as going to an amusement park. Going to the beach and have a swim in the blue ocean. Even maintaining the flowers was something to do on a day like this, and that was what Yamanaka Ino was doing at the moment at Saginomiya Flowers.

The girl stood up, wiping the sweat from her brow, thanks to the hot blazing sun, with her forearm and placed her hands on her hips, her blue orbs scanning the work that she had just finished. The blonde's sight was filled with reds, yellows, pinks and many other colours of flowers that were now in buckets of water. She had also finished setting up some flowers and bouquets inside the building also, in the early hours in the morning. Ino's gaze from her work soon turned toward the sound of the door to Saginomiya Flowers opening, the little bell inside the building ringing in her ears.

A girl stepped out with a small bunch of flowers and was followed by an elderly lady, Ino's boss, that ran the shop. The owner's name, which she found out when she asked if the owner was still looking for someone for the job, was Saginomiya Shiori while the girl in front of her was her granddaughter Chiharu. The blonde hunter had seen her around a few times, she and Ino normally saying hello and goodbye to one another when seeing each other, whenever she would come down to visit her grandmother. From what the girl remember hearing when she came down last time was that, on the last day of school, her work place, the Sannin Café, was in the middle of being robbed.

She was scared to death and had a panic attack, the leader of the five man squad of robbers pointing a gun to her head, telling her to stop. If it wasn't for the brave (and foolish) Hyūga Hinata, she would have never been able to see her grandmother again. When she went on to mention on how the robbers had been stopped, everything from that point on was a blur. The girl said she and everyone else that had been in the café had been saved, by someone, but she couldn't remember how or who. _No doubt that it was Sakura_ Ino had thought then.

But remembering what the younger Saginomiya said, made Ino think about what had happened to her. On the night she and the pinkette had fought against one another and saved Hinata from the titan-like demons, they had asked what had happened to the blonde to make her do such methodical methods. And the answer to that... was because she couldn't remember. She could remember from walking home from school, meeting old lady Saginomiya and then sensing a demon's presence.

After that, there was nothing. And before she knew it, she had the knowledge of what had happened to her sister, and that was when the events began to happen.

"Thanks for the flowers, Obā-chan!" the young girl said happily, her smile bright.

"It's not a problem Chi-chan," the old woman replied, her smile full of affection for the girl in front of her. "I know the certain someone, that you're thinking of, will like them very much. Afterall, you were the one who chose them!"

"O-Obā-chan!" the girl cried out in embarrassment, her cheeks flushing pink. "I-I have to go now! B-Bye!" With that, the girl ran towards Ino's direction, her eyes meeting blonde's, the pink hue still staining her cheeks, and gave her a small nod before she ran past, clutching the flowers to her chest.

"Young love," the older Saginomiya commented behind Ino, watching the girl until she was out of sight. Once she was, her line of sight then fell on to the hunter, her smile still full of affection. Too much than she deserved. "Good morning, Ino-chan. Thank you so much for your hard work."

"Good morning," the younger girl repeated, giving a small smile of her own. "And it's no problem. I owe you so much, Saginomiya-obasan."

The old woman let out a chuckle. "You don't owe me anything girl, it's I that needs to thank you. And for heavens sake you don't have to be so formal with me! Obā-chan is fine."

Ino could feel the heat in her cheeks. There was no way she could call the person who helped her, and who she respected more, such an informal title. Her granddaughter maybe, but not a someone like her. Someone that doesn't deserve it. The elderly woman was still waiting, patiently, for an answer. "I-I'll think about it," she told her, knowing the blonde couldn't just simply downright say no.

She let out a sigh. "That'll have to do I suppose," she said, sounding crestfallen. But not a moment later she was smiling again. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to it." Having said that, the older woman was about to walk through the door, but not before Ino called out to her. She stopped mid-step, turned back to face her and hummed a response that she was listening.

"I was just wondering, if I could take a small brake for a moment?" she asked. "There's somewhere I need to be."

"Why of course you can," Ino smiled appreciatively at her kind answer. "There isn't much to do anyway now, so take as long as you need. I'll call you if anything comes up." Ino gave a nod of understanding and bowed her head, thanking her. Old lady Saginomiya told her to raise her head, saying there was no need for it, and then finally went back inside.

 _Time to go_ she thought to herself, just as she was about to undo her apron around her body. But footsteps and the sound of someone groaning stopped her and she turned to look, wondering what person on earth could make a sound like that. That was when Ino saw something that she would have never seen in real life. That only appeared on television, or in books. A zombie. It's movements were sluggish, each footstep heavier than the last one, as it's body was slumbed forward. Ino watched as the zombie slowly walked past her, carrying on it's groan and at that point she thought it best to call out.

"Tenten?"

The zombie, no, Tenten stopped where she was and her grey orbs that looked tired and devoid of life turned to look at the demon hunter. "...Huh?" she made a noise, her brain slowly processing who was talking to her. "Ino?"

Said girl gave a nod that she was indeed talking to her and then asked her the thing on her mind the moment she laid eyes on husk of the brunette. "Why do you look you've been to hell and back?"

The brunette frowned, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes turned sharp. "You're joking right?" she asked, her eye beginning to twitch. "Do you not see what I'm wearing? What I'm holding?"

Ino cocked an eyebrow before she looked at her attire. The girl realized then that Tenten was wearing her summer school uniform and in her hands was her school bag. She was surprised she didn't notice that, but then again, Tenten walking like a dead woman caught her eye first. Now that she knew she was wearing that, Ino began to wonder why. Then it clicked.

"Sum-"

"SUMMER SCHOOL!" Tenten cut the blonde off, the brunette screaming from the top of her lungs. "I've spent the entire morning doing make-up tests! Do you know what it feels like to wake up early in the morning only to go to school?!"

Ino was about to say that she didn't, because she had passed her exams and did the homework that had been sent out to her, and the other students, on the same day, so she didn't need to go to summer school. But she held the words in her throat, not wanting to sour the girl's mood even further, which Sakura would have probably done if she were here. Not on purpose though.

"Isn't summer school only for a few days though?" Ino asked instead, being safe.

"You're not the first person who has told me that. Hinata has been saying the exact same thing."

"I see." Tenten let out a long sigh after that. And even though she and Ino had became friends recently, she didn't have time to stay with her and chat. Even though old lady Saginomiya told her not to worry about it, Ino didn't want to be away from Saginomiya Flowers for too long, just in case she was needed. With that thought, the blue eyed girl began to take the apron off of herself whilst speaking to Tenten.

"I'm sorry, Tenten," she apologised. "But there is somewhere I need to be right now."

The twin bunned girl gave her a quizzical look, most likely from the quick change of subject. But if there was something she wanted to say on it, she didn't. "Sure, okay," was all she said on the matter.

With an understanding, Ino gave a nod to the brunette. Giving the other girl her thanks, she removed the apron around her form and placed it inside Saginomiya Flowers, telling the owner that she was going before she walked off to her destination. All the while, Ino couldn't feel the eyes of curiosity on her back as she did.

* * *

When Ino got to Konohagakure park, a famous place for tourists for it's giant landscape and it's massive trees, the first thing she could hear was the sound of children. Their childish little laughter echoing as they played with one another. Their crying as they managed to hurt themselves. Everything in the park was a motion of blurs of little ones, but Ino was easily able to pick out a certain boy. He had short brown, chestnut coloured hair and baby blue eyes, happily playing some children his age. And not far off, sitting on one of the many benches, was the child's parents.

The man, the boy's father, looked to be in his early forties. His hair had begun to bald and he had a bit of a gut, not enough to call him fat. The woman looked be in her late twenties with the same coloured hair and eyes than the boy's. She had head leaning on her husband's shoulder, a smile plastered on her face as she watched her child play happily with the children.

Those three were the reason why she was here. She had been watching them ever since summer had begun. After all... it was the same family the demon hunter had almost torn apart the night that she had met Sakura. The father was a demon, the mother a human. And their son was a mixture of both. Ino felt a pang of guilt run across my chest at how she almost killed them with Masemune. She had been so blinded by her revenge for her sister, Yukiko, that she let her rage dictate her actions. Hinata had been right. She _was_ a hypocrite. She hadn't had cared to think whether or not a demon was innocent or a threat. For the blonde, back then, a demon was just a demon. Even the Succubus that she had killed on her first night at Konohagakure was just looking to live a normal life. And now she would never ever get that chance.

"You know, stalking is a crime?"

Ino's eyes widened as her thoughts were disturbed by a sudden voice. When she turned to look, her blue orbs met grey.

"Tenten?" Ino called out in surprise. Why on earth was she here? The brunette walked up to her, her eyes were bright once more, not like they were when she saw her coming back from school and she didn't look tired like before either.

"Don't tell me you've now become a paedophile?" she asked me, and Ino narrowed her eyes at her. She knew that she was joking, but was that something she should be saying with a bunch of people around, especially parents? But since she was here, there was no point in hiding it.

"Do you see those three there?" the hunter asked, turning her gaze back to the park and indicated to the father, mother and the son. It took a bit of time, but Tenten eventually found the individuals the blonde was talking about. "I'm pretty sure Sakura's probably already told you, but that's the family I would have killed if she hadn't have stopped me."

"Right," Tenten spoke. "So... you've come here to finish the job?"

"No!" she cried, her blue eyes growing wide, staring into hers. Tenten looked back at her in complete shock, surprised by the quick outburst. "Sorry," Ino apologised. "It's just... I want to make amends. I want to apologise. To say sorry for what I nearly done to them. But..."

"But?" Tenten repeated, urging her to finish.

"I'm... scared," she told her,her blue orbs looking toward the ground. That was all that was holding Ino back. She was scared of the fact they would reject her apology, call her a monster. She deserved it, but it would still hurt her deeply. Suddenly, a hand had enveloped the blonde's own and when she looked it, she turned her gaze to it's owner. That owner being Tenten. Ino could feel herself blush from the contact, never experiencing this sort of thing before. She knew her sister did it a few times but this was completely different.

"Even if they reject your apology," she began, her eyes sharp, but at the same time gentle, and honest. Seeing that look made Ino's heart beat just a little faster. "Hinata, Sakura and even me, we know that you're trying your hardest to become a better person. So there is no need to be afraid, okay?"

After her little speech, there was a long beat of silence. Ino let Tenten's words, short as they were, sink in. She then slowly began to chuckle. Her heart was swelling with warmth, knowing that she had friends that care about her regardless of what she have done. And even though they've only known each other for a short while, for her to say something so out of character, Ino couldn't help but laugh.

"W-Why are you laughing?" Tenten asked with a cocked brow.

"It's nothing," she replied. "It's just I wasn't expecting something like that coming from you, Tenten." This time it was the other girl's turn to blush red, her eyes wide and her mouth opening and closing like a fish. After a moment, she finally managed to gain back her composure.

"F-Forget I said anything!" she said in a fluster, letting go of her hand. But Ino grasped it again with both of her own. The brunette was surprised at that and looked at their joined hands.

"Thank you, Tenten," Ino gave her gratitude, her eyes turning back to the hunter's. Her blush from before intensified by the second, and, she had to admit, she thought she looked cute. Even though she act so much like a tomboy, Ino had to remember the brunette was a girl also. She soon released her hand, and gave a small smile. "Wish me luck."

Still in shock, the other girl simply nodded her head and with that Ino closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, before she started to take the first step towards redemption. Walking towards the couple sitting on the bench, her heart pounded harder for each step she took. The palm of her hands began to sweat, as her nerves started to act up. It was only the thought of her new friends and Tenten's words that kept Ino from running from what she was about to do there and then.

 _You've been in worse situations than this Ino_ she told herself. Even fighting some if the toughest demons felt easy.

She stopped just about two feett away from the bench they were at, their eyes still glued onto their bundle of joy. The bundle of joy that she had about to end. Ino managed to clear the lump that had dug deep within her throat and shook her head. She couldn't change the past but she could the future. So, gathering whatever remaining courage she had, Ino spoke out to them.

"E-Excuse me," she stuttered, immediately hating herself for it. It got there attention however and both their gazes were upon her. Oh how much she wanted to run at that moment.

"Is there something the matter dear?" the woman asked, her voice was kind.

"N-No, there isn't," again the blonde stuttered.

"Are you sure?" the man asked this time. "You're shaking like a leaf."

He was right. The girl's body was trembling. But she couldn't chicken out, not now. Thinking that she resorted to her demon hunter training, closing her blue eyes, slowing her breathing and calming her rapidly beating heart. It was working but for how long, Ino didn't know. Which was why she needed to do it now.

"I..." Ino began. The two of them were just sitting there with patience, and she had a horrible feeling that was going to change. "I wanted... to apologize to you." Hearing that, they looked at the girl strangely, most likely wondering why a girl they haven't met before would just suddenly apologize to them.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" the mother asked. And now was the moment of truth.

"My name is Yamanaka Ino," a beat. "And I'm the one... who attacked you that night."

There was only silence after those words were out in the open, the children in the background becoming just white noise. The mother's face went from shock and surprise to instant fear, and Ino knew that she remembered that night like it happened yesterday. The father, however, was different. He went from wide eyed to narrow, anger very clear in his eyes. The blue eyed girl could feel the chakra in his body bubbling up with the same emotion.

"Honey," he spoke to his wife, his gaze never leaving her blue orbs. "Go get our son and start heading home. I'll follow you shortly."

She didn't argue with her husband and just gave him a nod, even though he couldn't see it, before she went off to get their little boy whose fun was about to be ruined. Because of Ino.

"Why have you come here?" he asked, loud enough to sound threatening but quiet enough that it wouldn't be heard from the other people. "Have you come to finish the job? Force me and my family to go somewhere less populated and end our lives there?"

"N-No! You're completely wrong!" This was why. This was why she didn't want to do this. This was exactly why Ino was just happy watching them from a distance, so that she wouldn't have to be confronted like this. But it was too late now. The damage had been done and all Ino could do now was try and stop this man from causing too much fuss. "I only came down here to apologize for what I've put your family through."

At this point, the mother had returned to where they were and upon seeing that his family was with him he glared back at Ino, hard. And for once, it actually made the girl shudder. "Listen, Yamanaka-san?" he began. "If you really feel sorry. If you truly want to help us in anyway. Then you'll leave my family alone."

Saying what needed to be said, Ino was left speechless and before she could even think of anything to say all three of them had left the park. All she could do was stare at their retreating forms as she could feel her eyes begin to burn, her hands slowly clenched into fists by her sides.

"Ino," the voice of Tenten called out her name, a hand resting gently on Ino's arm. "I'm so sorry."

But the girl just shrugged off her hand, not wanting her sympathy. Ino suddenly felt like she was suffocating, even though she was an open area, from were she was standing and needed to go back to the flower shop. She needed to work, clear her head. To get away from all of this. So, telling the brunette that she needed to be left alone, Ino walked away from the grey eyed girl and the park, hoping to put all of this behind her.

* * *

It was evening now, a couple of hours since her failed attempt of redemption with the family of three. Ino was sitting in the dining room of the house section of Saginomiya Flowers, using the chopsticks in her hand to play with the traditional Japanese home cooked meal that the elder Saginomiya had made. The old lady was happily eating hers but when her eyesight turned onto the hunter, her face fell, concern written all over.

"Is everything alright, Ino-chan?" she asked,worry attached to her tone. "You've barely eaten anything."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, which was one of many that she had done today. The older woman had worked hard for the meal she had provided and here she was sulking like child. Old lady Saginomiya deserved more than that.

"Is it something that you can't tell me?"

"It's just..." Ino began, looking into the older woman's eyes. She sat there, chopsticks on the table, and waited, her kind gaze never leaving. Even though she couldn't give her all the details, Ino could still give a small portion of the truth. "Before I came to Konohagakure, I did a few terrible things," she continued. The Saginomiya elder didn't say anything, which the blonde was glad of. It was hard about speaking about her past to anyone.

"I had lost someone very important to me. I've hurt 'people' trying to find the person responsible, as well as find the person who was them last. And when I got to the city, I had almost done it again. But now... I want to make amends and pay for my mistakes. And the first chance that I get to do that... it just doesn't work out."

A beat.

"So, you're just going to give up?" Ino's eyes widened when she heard those words. The girl looked back up to meet the old ladies' gaze that were still kind but stern. Now she really did feel like child. "Are you just going to let one failure of redemption stop you?"

Ino couldn't bare to look the woman in the eye any more, turning her gaze back to her near enough untouched food, because she knew she was right. But, there was nothing she could do. What _could_ she do? The family that she had been watching since summer vacation started, now knew that she was around. And now they would take every action to make sure that they would stay away from her.

"You know, Ino-chan," old lady Saginomiya continued, realizing the blonde was deep in thought. "You've changed a lot since I met you. Back then, you may have been polite, but the emotions in your eyes shown something that I have never seen a girl your age have. Rage, hate. Sharp and cold. Even empty. Which I understand now. But, by the next day, when you came to me about the job and room offer, all of that had disappeared, like it hadn't been there in the first place."

That was because now, she had friends. Hyūga Hinata, a kind hearted girl who would help a person in need. Hiramatsu Tenten, a hot blooded tomboy who would get her panties in a twist every time Ino wouldn't remember her name. And Haruno Sakura, the stoic, half-demon girl who she never would have thought of considered being a friend, and who had been the person that was with her sister during her final night.

But before Ino could voice any of that, except for the last part about Sakura being a demon, a small shock flashed through her head before she suddenly sensed demonic chakra. A wild chakra at that. She must have been making a face because the next thing she heard was old lady Saginomiya's calling out to her, asking her if everything was all right.

"I'm fine," she lied. "I just... need to get some fresh air." With that said, Ino stood up from her chair, the food on the table completely forgotten about and began to make her way through the door that connected work place of Saginomiya Flowers. But before she opened the door linking the two parts of the building, her hand holding the handle, Ino turned to the owner. "Thank you, Saginomiya-obasan."

And with those parting words she left the building, and ran to the demon that would threaten, that had once been, a peaceful night.

* * *

Running from rooftop to rooftop, feeling the familiar weight of Masemune in it's scabbard in her left hand, Ino could feel the demon's chakra getting closer. It was wild and dangerous and it needed to taken care of before it was too late. Her heart was pounding fast and hard in her chest and the adrenaline was running through her veins. Knowing that she would get to kill a demon tonight helped her overcome what had happened today and she would be able to move on.

The chakra was coming from an alleyway, with a wide berth, that was a few minutes away from where she was. Ino had always wondered why demons seemed to pick alleyways but then she saw the logic. They could trap their prey in a confined space and thanks to the cover of darkness, no one would be able to see them. A perfect hunting ground.

When she finally got to the alleyway that held the demon, her eyes widened at what she saw and her grip tightened around her weapon. The creature looked to be like a large dog, it's skin black like the night itself. It had no eyes, ears, nose or even tail, but instead had four large tendrils upon it's back, moving here and there, back and forth. It's posture was somewhat apelike and it's teeth were very defined, sticking out of it's mouth as saliva dripped down and hit the ground, by it's massive paw-like hand.

And underneath that paw-like hand was the other reason why Ino's blood began to boil. There was man beneath it. His body was battered and bloodied, saliva from the demon dripping on his face. But the man wasn't just any other. He was the father of the family that she had almost destroyed. And while his body was crumbled beneath the demon, the mother and son were a few feet away, the woman holding her child in her arms protectively while watching the scene with horrified eyes.

Without having to think another thought, Ino jumped off from her vantage point. Releasing Masemune from it's sheath, she threw it away and let out a battle cry that made everyone's head look up towards the blonde's direction. She raised her sword above her head, aiming for the creatures neck and just like she hoped, before her blade could disconnect it's head from it's shoulders, it jumped away. Quickly, the Demon Hunter stood between the demon and the man, making sure she would be the first thing it hit.

"It's... you..." Ino heard the man's voice from behind her. She turned her head to look at him, all the while keeping her senses aware of the demon in front of her. "Why would you... save me?"

"To atone for what I've done," she told him. He was about to speak, probably ask her to elaborate what she meant. But the sound of heels could be heard and in the next moment, his wife appeared by his side.

"Darling!" she cried, kneeling down next to him, tears were streaking down her face. Husband and wife spoke to one another in small voices but the growl coming from the demon in front of the blonde brought her back to the reality they were all in. Now wasn't the time for sweet talk.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she started, the pair of them looking at her now. "But you need to leave. Now."

"But-!" the mother's cry was crushed out by the movement of the dog-like demon, it's paw-like hand taking a step forward. Ino narrowed her eyes, baring her gritted teeth and then, gave a glare to the couple behind her.

"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

The girl's shout had seemed to work. As fast as he possibly could, the father stood up and took his wife, who still had the child wrapped tightly in her arms, away from were the demon and she was. Once Ino knew they were out of the firing line, she turned her attention back to the demon dog. It was snarling at her, letting out a menacing growl, telling her know that it didn't like her getting in the way of it's prey. Ino took her fighting stance.

 _Time to send you back to hell._

* * *

She was bored. Even when she had her headphones on, listening to some music, she was still bored. And the reason why she was bored, the only reason why, was because what was in front of her. Summer homework. Tenten had been staring at the sheet of paper for what felt like hours (which in reality was only a few minutes), tapping the rubber end of her pencil to the beat of the music. But no matter how long she stared at the thing, the answers to the questions weren't coming to her.

She let out a groan, rubbing her head with both of her hands, not minding if she messed up her hair or not and put her head on the table. She couldn't study. That was the real reason. There was a lot on the brunette's mind and it all revolved around a certain blonde girl named Yamanaka Ino. It had been two weeks ago, in July, since she had apologized to her for always forgetting her name and at the same time becoming friends. And in that short time, Tenten had come to know her slightly better.

She was intelligent. She always seemed to be one step ahead, going over things with every little detail. And plus the fact that she wasn't in summer school meant that she had to be smart. Tenten even heard the other girls in school talking that she might be a student prodigy, and honestly she could see that. She was strong too. She had to be if she was fighting demons. Tenten even saw with her own eyes that she managed to keep Sakura at bay during their sparring match at the gym, were as she failed.

She was also pretty cute too. The way she blushed when the brunette held her hand after she admitted to her that she was scared. And when she laughed and, this time, took Tenten hand in her's, the girl's heart had started to beat rapidly and she had blushed from her neck up. Even remembering it now made her face flush.

She let out an annoyed groan. _There's no way I can concentrate now_ she thought, removing the headphones and placing them on the table. Fresh air. That was what could help clear her head and drive those thoughts away. Standing up, she made her way towards her window and slide it open. Tenten closed her eyes and breathed in the night air, it's nice chill welcome on her face.

And that was when she felt a small tremor and the sound of the explosion. It had come from a far distance and the moment she felt and even heard it, the girl opened her eyes. There was a sudden dust cloud coming from a street that was only a few miles away from her house.

 _Wait. Isn't that the street were Saginomiya Flowers is at?_

If that was the case, then must have meant that dust cloud was the result of a demon. Tenten could think of one person who would be fighting that demon right now and if she was honest with herself, she wanted to help. But was there anything she could do to help? Sakura was a demon so she could easily stand up to them. And Ino had most likely been training for this sort of thing. Hell, even Hinata helped with her moral support.

So what could Tenten do?

The sound of another distant explosion was heard. Now wasn't the time for thinking what she could do. Thankfully, her mother wasn't in the house and was having a girl's night with her co-workers. So without having to be quiet about it, the twin bunned girl rushed to get her jeans, boots and her hooded jacket on before making her way towards the front door. But before she went in to unknown danger, Tenten made her way towards the Hiramatsu Dojo that was next to her house, were her family had taught naginata back when her dad was still alive.

And once inside, she took one of oher family's most precious items and hoped, that it would keep her alive long enough to be of some use. This was going to be fun... and painful.

* * *

 **And that's the end of the first part of a two-parter.**

 **Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	28. Ino's Redemption Part 2

**Enter YuriBluflame who has not updated since July. He sits on his knees, a sheathed katana in front of him. Taking the weapon in his hands, he proceeds to unsheathe the blade, turning it so that the sharp metal tip is pointing towards his stomach. Then he plunges the weapon into his gut, committing seppuku. Unfortunately, the blade will not penetrate through and thus Yuri must live with the guilt of making his followers of Demonic Love wait for so, so long...**

 **Anyway, back to reality. I am really sorry for the extremely late update. I was completely stumped on how to write this one, bloody chapter. I now have very deep respect for the writers on this site for doing what they do and get a chapter (even a story) finished.**

 **Normally here is when I put the names of people who have favourited or followed, but I'm going to leave that out, just in case they don't want to be announced (sorry to the people who I have in the past). But I will still say thank you very much to the people who have favourited and followed.**

 **Now since I struggled with this, I really mean struggled hence the two month mark, this chapter will probably (most likely) not be as good as some of my other ones. But I've left it for too long and needed to post this.**

 **Like always,** **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!(?)**

* * *

Hirmatsu Tenten ran. When her lungs began to burn, she ran. When the muscles in her legs began to tighten, and her body told her to stop and take a quick break, she ran. She ran and she ran, the long item that was tied onto her back hit the body part rebounding itself. The brunette didn't know why, but somewhere she felt something was wrong. Something was happening to Ino.

But why would she think that? From the stories that Sakura and Hinata told her, the blonde maned girl was a badass. She was almost strong as Sakura, with demon blood running through her veins and she was as skilled as a master swordsman (or swordswoman) with her katana, Masemune.

So, there was no way in hell that Yamanaka Ino was losing to some demon. But even thinking that, the tightness that was forming within her stomach wouldn't just go away. She would have to see it with her own eyes, only then, Tenten thought, would it disappear.

The brunette soon got to the street were she had saw the smoke, and what she saw there could only be described in one word; destruction. Cars were tossed or destroyed to the point that they couldn't really be called cars anymore. There were craters in the ground of the road here, there and everywhere. Even some of the stores around the area didn't make it through the battle between hunter and demon. And if Tenten was honest with herself, she was surprised that there wasn't some sort of person that heard this. Surely, something of this scale was sure to attract some kind of attention.

But the brunette couldn't be bothered to think up anything at the moment. Right now, the task was to just find Ino and see how the girl was doing. Which shouldn't be too hard. Just follow the destruction and the blonde girl she be at the end of it all.

So, thinking that, Tenten ignored her body's soreness and kept on running. She kept running, following the debris like bread crumbs to the witch's house. She had to jump a few street lights that had been knocked down and the more she saw, the more the anxiety built up. Really, why hasn't anyone heard any this?

After moments of only seeing carnage and destruction, the twin bunned girl was finally met with a new sight.

But it was a sight that she didn't want to see. A sight that made slow down her run until she stopped dead in her tracks. A sight that made her eyes grow wide, the light in her eyes going dim. There before her was a creature that she had never seen before. It looked be like a large dog, with an apelike posture, it's skin the blackest that Tenten had ever seen. It had no facial features, just sharp teeth sticking out of it's mouth that were very defined.

A demon. That thing was unmistakably one of them. But that wasn't what stopped the girl. On the things back were four tendrils and two of them were in use. One had itself wrapped around the neck of the very person that she had been trying to find. But that wasn't the worst of it. The part was where the second tendril was... impaling the blonde haired girl in the chest. Blood was dripping off the sharp tip of the tendril that had done the deed and Tenten found herself shivering.

 _No... way..._

This was a dream. It had to be a dream, right? There was no way that Yamanaka Ino, a demon hunter, the person who was near enough on par with Sakura and a master of the sword... was dead. But she was. No matter how she looked at it, the girl was not moving, Masemune, her katana, was on the ground next to the apelike monster.

"Ino..." the girl said only in a whisper. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears and her breathes were becoming laboured. Both of the girl's hands were closed tightly into fists, the pain of her fingernails breaking skin could mean that what she was seeing was most definatly not a dream.

"Ino..."

 _BA-THUMP..._

"Ino..."

 _BA-THUMP... BA-THUMP..._

The brunette clenched her teeth, closed her eyes tightly and screamed. Screamed like she had never before. Screamed, like her very life depended on it.

"INOOOO!"

* * *

"AAAHHH!"

Ino let out a shriek as she hit the solid concrete of the road, hard, and bounced once. Twice. Three times, before she crashed into one of the nearby cars on the street. The sound of the metal crushing beneath her body echoed loudly in her ears, before the sound of the car alarm took over.

The lights of the car flashed in time with the car alarm as it shone through the darkness of night. The car then began to creak, like it was crying in pain, as Ino slowly peeled herself of the metal corpse. She hit the ground with a thud, slowly getting onto her hands and knees once the pain of hitting the floor subsided and started to breath slow and heavy. Sweat and blood had begun to pour off the blonde's face, down her chin before hitting the floor.

Ino didn't have a chance to take a breath however.

A shadow instantly hung over her a moment later and when she looked up, her blue orbs saw the demon coming at her from the air, it's paw-like hands ready for the kill. Seeing it come at her, she took in a sharp breath before she rolled forward and out of the way. The demon landed behind the hunter, where she was originally, and whatever was left of the car that she had crashed into was now destroyed beyond repair. Gritting her teeth, Ino turned her body and raised Masemune, it's tip pointing at the demon as it too turned to face her.

Saliva began to come through it's teeth as it snarled at her. With minimal ease, it grasped whatever remains of the car was there and threw it away, the chunk of metal smashing into a building nearby. It took two steps towards her, the ground caving in beneath it's paw-like hand as it did so. Steeling herself, Ino ran towards the demon. It raised it's arm and swung down it claws when she was close. The girl flitted to the side at the same time when the demon's paw-like hand smashing the place were she had stood just a second ago.

 _You're mine!_ Ino cried in my thoughts, swinging Masemune at it's side. But the moment Ino swung her blade, one of the tendrils on it's back blocked the strike. Then, it turned it's head to face in her direction and before she could blink or speak a word, it used the back of it's paw-like hand and smacked her, hard and fast. The hunter smashed into a nearby clothing store, the sound of the glass shattering upon impact echoing the empty store while the fragments bit into Ino's skin.

The glass wasn't the only thing that was affected. Once she landed inside the clothing store, all of the displays that was in her area collapsed on top of her, the girl's body covered by material, plastic, metal and wood. Pain racked her body as she tried to get up, whatever was on top of her rolling off and hitting the floor. Slowly but surely she did, but she immediately began to breathe laboured breaths once more.

 _How?_ she though to herself, turning her blue gaze to the demon that was outside. _How is it possible that it can see me?_ From what she saw, the demon absolutely had no facial straits. It had no eyes, ears or nose which made it practically impossible to see, smell or hear her and where she was about to strike. So how could it?

Unless...

Ino narrowed her eyes as a theory appeared at the front of her mind. Placing Masemune in front of her, she began to do her hand signs. When she finished the last sign, Ino took her weapon from the ground and then, she prayed.

Prayed that what she was going to do now wasn't going to be too unpleasant. But in the back of her mind, she knew it would.

Steeling her nerves, knowing what was about to happen, Ino leaped out through the now broken window and the moment her feet touched the solid concrete, she took on her stance once more. With the demon now in front of her, the dog-like creature could now 'see' her, the black creature baring it's teeth while crouching down, as if it was getting ready to pounce.

Which it did.

As it lunged for the girl, it roared like that of a lion. It was strong and powerful which could make even make the most skilled hunter, animal or human, quake where they stood. She, however, didn't have time to do that. Instead, as the demon's claws were pointing at her in it's attack, Ino rolled forward as far as she could, hoping she wouldn't get crushed or skewered. When the demon landed behind her, it felt like an earthquake had struck, but like when she didn't have time to quake in fear, Ino also didn't have time to see the destruction the demon was leaving in it's wake.

Once she stood back up again, it was time to put her new theory to the test. Ino jumped into the air, Masemune above her head and let out a cry that the demon couldn't and shouldn't be able to hear.

...But it did.

While she was so focused on the striking the demon, Ino never noticed the tendril making it's way toward her. And by the time that she did, it was too late. Her blue eyes widened when she felt the appendage wrap around my throat, suddenly tightening around her wind pipes so that all she could muster was a choked gasp. When it knew that it had her, the demon turned to face, using the tendril to bring her closer to it. Ino could feel the foul breath of the demon hitting her skin, and, even though it didn't have any facial expressions, she knew that it had a murderous aura.

It was now getting harder to breath, the tendril slowly closing in on her throat, cutting off the air her lungs needed. Visibly gritting her teeth and closing her eyes tightly, Ino raised her weapon, which was miraculously still gripped tightly in her hand, and in a desperate attempt to get free she swung her blade as hard as she could from the angle she was at. But even that was a failure. It used another tendril to grab her wrist, slowly bending it in a way that it shouldn't. Ino tried her best to not scream in pain as it kept bending and twisting, until finally she let go of Masemune.

 _Damn it!_ Ino cried in her thoughts. _I need to do something! Otherwise..._

 _SPHHHLT!_

the girl's eyes shot open then, pupils growing small, as she heard the sound of bone and flesh being torn apart. And not just the sound. Ino slowly looked down at herself and there she saw another tendril had impaled her between her breasts. Now that she knew, she could feel a few things happening at once. Blood had begun to gather up in her lungs, the taste of metallic metal in her mouth before it came out through her lips, coughing up the blood as it did so.

Then, her body slowly began to shut down, and started to feel cold all of a sudden. Her eyes also slowly began to grow heavy, like weights. Ino was afraid. Afraid that this was it, that she was going to die here and now. That her time here in this world was up.

Which was the unfortunate truth. And as her eyes closed shut, letting the darkness take over, the last thing she saw was the demon's expressionless face... and the cry of her name.

"INOOOO!"

* * *

After she cried out the blonde's name, the demon was looking at her now. The brunette could hear the growling noise from where she was standing, and while it did, the demon removed the tendril from Ino's chest and threw her body to the side like a rag doll. It then began to charge at her, the ground feeling like it was shaking as it did.

Now wasn't the time for the girl to just stand there and let the demon do to her like she did the blonde. So, she ran. She did the same thing as the demon and ran at it. The brunette wasn't thinking. She was just acting on impulse. The first thing on her mind was to get to Ino's body. Maybe it wasn't too late, and she could do something to help the blonde.

The demon suddenly lunged at the running grey orbed girl, the claws of it's paw-like hands pointed directly at the girl. But they didn't get anywhere near the brunette, as she launched herself forward, the demon just brushing her back, and rolled forward. Rolling out, Tenten ran forward, ignoring the loud thud of the demon behind her.

She quickly made her way to the limp girl's side and got onto her knees, grasping the blonde's shoulders and shook. "Ino!" the girl cried, "Ino!" But shaking her body did nothing. Tenten then pressed her ear above the girl's breast and tried to listen out for a heart beat.

All she got was silence. The brunette pulled away, her eyes never leaving Ino's body. Her hands once again closed into fists as the earthquake sound of the demon was now making it's way toward her. Tenten finally let her eyes turn to her side, just in time to see the demon lunge itself at her. Seeing it, Tenten reached for the thing that was tied behind her back. She didn't know what she was going to do, but anything was better than just staying there, waiting to be demon food.

"Gate of Pain... OPEN!"

Her fingers hadn't even touched the object when a sudden flash of green, which was a companied by a familiar voice, had come into view. Before she knew it, the demon was flung back, sailing through the air before it landed on the concrete road. The person that saved her had familiar blonde hair tied up into a high ponytail and let out a long breath, before turning to give the brunette a hard glare.

"Are you completely stupid?!" That was when Tenten realised that the person in front of her was Ino, her grey orbs growing wide with shock and surprise. She had a green aura surrounding her frame and her skin pigment had become more tanned. Her eyes, that were once blue, were now pure white. But as the girl took in this new appearance of the blonde, the girl's aura faded away and she returned to what she was.

Just then, Ino bore a pained expression on her face and fell to the ground, on her knees. The blonde looked like she was about to pass out, so Tenten immediately went to her side, forgetting the girl that had been lying on the floor. "Are you okay!?" the brunette cried, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders for support.

"No," Ino admitted honestly. "Once I open one of the Eight Gates, my body becomes painful. And, unfortunately, it's only going to get worse."

Before the naginata wielding girl ask what she meant, the unasked question was already answered. The Yamanaka Ino that was lying on the floor suddenly disappeared into a puff of smoke and in the next moment, the girl in Tenten's arms instantly grew stiff. Her face contorted in pain, her hand clinging onto her chest which was the same exact spot where the demon had impaled the copy. The blonde then coughed out a lot of blood, the red substance splattering itself on the floor.

"Ino!" Panic was now rising within Tenten, seeing the girl in so much pain. "What happening!?"

"This..." she started, taking in another breath, "is also... a side effect... of using the cloning technique. Whatever it experienced... passes on to the original... whenever it retur-" The girl stopped for another bouts of coughing, more blood escaping through her mouth.

Again, the earthquake-like footsteps appeared, and Tenten looked to see that the demon had gotten out of it's daze from Ino's attack and was slowly making it's way towards the pair. The brunette glared at the monster that, even though it didn't have eyes, was eyeing it's prey hungrily.

"Get... out of here... Tenten."

The girl's grey orbs widened, her gaze returning to the blonde. Said girl raises her arm and in the next moment, forming out of cherry blossoms, Masemune appears in front of her palm, grasping the hilt.

"What?!" Tenten cried out, shocked to even hear what the girl even suggested. At this point, Ino dug her weapon into ground and slowly started to use it to pull herself up. "What are you saying? Are you an complete idiot? You are in no condition to fight that thing! Look at you, you can barely stand without using your sword as a crutch!" What the girl was doing was literally suicide!

"It... doesn't matter," Ino replied, finally standing up but leaning heavily on her sword. "This creature isn't allowed to live. If it does... who knows how many it'll kill before it's satisfied."

The blonde haired girl in front of her managed to raise her weapon towards the black beast, but even that looked to be all she could do. Tenten could tell that the girl was exhausted and still in pain, but that didn't stop her from fighting. And what was she doing? Being protected. Again. It was just like that time when the white skinned fiend attacked her. She was helpless, while Sakura, and even Hinata, risked their lives to save her's.

Tenten closed her hands into fists until they were knuckled white. If there was one thing she hated, it was the feeling of being helpless. And with that, the brunette made a decision; no more.

No longer thinking, Tenten walked up to the blonde haired girl, getting in front of her. Ino gave her confused look. "Tenten what are you-?"

"Sorry Ino," the brunette replied, cutting off the hunter before she cocked her arm back and punched Ino in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes widened and she let out a winded gasp before she fell to the floor, clutching the struck body part.

With quick movement, Tenten turned to face the monster from hell and grasped the clothed item on her back. Item in hand, the girl took off the material and threw it away, taking a fighting stance and brandishing her new weapon.

A guandao, a chinese naginata. But it wasn't any ordinary guandao. It was an exact replica of the Green Dragon Cresent Blade which had been used by the legendary general, Guan Yu. A majestic green polearm, with the body of a golden dragon wrapped around it. The maw of the dragon's head was opened up for a green metal blade with silver lining to appear through. Even though it was a replica, the blade was sharp and deadly like any other naginata.

And it was a family heirloom. Tenten's father, before he died, had gone to china and went to the very resting place of the man dubbed the 'God of War'. With permission of the Chinese, having to beg on his knees, her father, with other people helping, dug up the place were Guan Yu's weapon was last known in history. Unfortunately, there was nothing and that left her father devastated.

But as luck would have it, just as he was about to leave the country he had passed a merchant and that was where he saw it. The weapon he had been searching for. The Green Dragon Cresent Blade that he had seen in the history books. The merchant told him that it was a simple replica, but the sharpness of the blade and the weight of it made feel and look real. Much to say that it cost a lot of money, but her father got the item in the end. Ever since, it's been on the display at the dojo for all to see.

Until now that was. Now, it was going to be used for battle.

"What... are you doing... Tenten?" Ino spoke through in laboured breaths.

"I've had enough," the tomboy replied. "Enough of being on the sidelines, while everyone else is fighting." The grip on her weapon grew tighter as she explained. "When Hinata was first attacked by demons, what was I doing? Going about in my naginata club without a care in the world." Her grey orbs narrowed dangerously and the demon must have thought the girl was now a threat as it started to pick up the pace.

"When a demon attacked me," she continued, "all I could do was coware in fear as Sakura almost gave her life to save me. Even Hinata got hurt because of it!" Unknown to the brunette, at this moment, a blue light began to highlight her figure, her bangs swishing left and right. And it was also at this moment that the demon had now gone into a full blown sprint.

"And now, your willing to sacrifice your life so I can escape. But no more, I'm tired. Tired of being protected by everyone and being oblivious to everything!" The demon had now leapt into the air, aiming at Tenten with it's clawed paws. The grey eyed girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, the tip of Green Dragon's blade facing the battered concrete. "I've had... enough!"

Then, just as the demon was just a few feet away, Tenten brought the blade up, slashing the air in front of her.

"ROAR GREEN DRAGON!"

A sudden gust of wind had come out from within the blade, slicing through the air, and struck the mid-leap demon from the sky. It roared in pain as it was once again flung back. Tenten began to pant as she watched the creature hit the ground with a loud thud, and after a moment, her eyes grew wide in realisation.

"Did I..." she started, but cut off because she noticed her body was glowing. "W-what's happening to me...?" she asked herself. The answer however would have to wait as low growl was heard. Her grey orbs gazed at the doglike demon getting itself up and could tell it was extremely pissed.

And it was strange. Even though she could tell that it was, Tenten didn't feel afraid. In fact, she felt confident. She didn't know why she was, but she didn't care. And the question she was about to ask herself before; she didn't care about that either.

Because now, it was her turn. It was her turn to fight and to protect someone. So, not fully understanding what was going on with herself, Tenten swung her guandao above her head, then to the side, before running at the monster. It too did the same and swiped at her with a clawed paw. She sidestepped, noticing that she had gotten faster as well and jumped up. Above the demon's body, Tenten swung her blade. Silver metal was about to meet black fur when a tendril came at her side.

Not being able to do much, the brunette brought the polearm of the weapon close to her body and took the blow. When the girl hit the ground, she rolled backwards before she managed to get to her feet, skidding the last few feet. Tenten narrowed her eyes at the demon as it turned itself around. She scanned for openings but realised that the demon was practically that. She found it strange but it didn't stop her from attacking.

Two of it's tendrils rose up as Tenten advanced forward. Once in range, they shot down, but Tenten was faster. She dodged the income appendages, the sharp tips of the tendrils going through the concrete like butter, and went to strike the demon from behind. But that attack too came up short when the demon used it's hind leg to bash Tenten out of the way, making the girl skid back to Ino's side.

"Damn it!" Tenten cursed. "For a demon with no sight what-so-ever, it can see where I am perfectly."

"It's using vibrations."

Tenten gave the blonde next to her a look, an eyebrow cocked. "Vibrations? What do you mean?"

"I figured it out during my fight," the blonde continued. "It's like when someone loses one of their senses, the others' heighten to an extent. Well, this demon's the same but it's other remaining senses have gone up tremendously. It uses it's paw-like hands to feel the ground beneath it, and uses the tendrils on it's back to feel the shift in the air. And that's why it knows where we are and counters our attacks."

"So what you're saying is-?"

"We need to be fast with our attacks." Ino finished, and then slowly began to stand up, using Masemune as a crutch.

"Oi, Ino! Should you really be moving?" Tenten asked in concern.

"I'm fine. I didn't become a demon hunter for nothing," she told her. "I still have enough strength and chakra left to do a strong attack. But that means this fight needs to end now." Tenten and Ino both glared at the demon, the creature getting itself ready for another round.

"Tenten," Ino called. "Would you be able to do that move from before again?" The brunette stared at the blonde for a good second before she knew what she meant.

"I don't know," the girl answered honestly. "I mean it just happened in the heat of the moment." Tenten gazed down at her hand and closed her fingers to make a white knuckled fist. That was when she felt another hand grasp her shoulder and her grey orbs met sky blue.

"I believe in you, Tenten," Ino said in confidence, giving the tomboy's shoulder a squeeze.

Tenten eyes widened. She was stunned that an expert of killing demons was giving so much trust to an complete noob. But she gave a nod, turned back to the demon and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and concentrated. She could feel it. That unknown power that suddenly burst forth out of nowhere. But that was all she could manage. She couldn't do anything with it. It was just sitting there, within her grasp, but she couldn't manipulate it like Sakura or Ino could do with there's.

The earthquake footsteps came back again, indicating that the demon was on the move. The brunette clenched her teeth inside her mouth and sweat had begun to form on her forehead. Her fingernails had bit into the palm of her hand because she was clenching her fist that tight.

 _I can't do it_ Tenten thought, defeated. For the life of her she couldn't do it. _We're going to lose here and it's going to be my fault!_

But when Tenten felt a hand clasp her fist, those depressing thoughts left her mind. Her eyes opened wide and turned to Ino. The girl was looking ahead, her blue eyes never leaving the demon, but she must have sensed the inner turmoil going on. That was when the blonde's words came back into her head.

 _"I believe in you, Tenten..."_

Her fist had loosened then, and the girl next to her took the opportunity take her now open hand and even intertwine their fingers together. She didn't know why, but Tenten felt her lips quirk into a smile. With Ino's support, the brunette closed her eyes once more and concentrated. This time, when she felt the power, instead of it just sitting there waiting, it was now moving through her body like flowing water with easy access.

Opening her eyes, Tenten's grey orbs held a blue fire within them. And with a confident smile said, "I'm ready!"

* * *

That was all the signal Ino needed. Releasing the other girl's hand, the hunter did a few quick hand signs and opened up the Gate of Pain, flaming green aura surrounding the blondes frame. Then without saying a word, she ran toward the demon. Thanks to the chakra running through her body, her speed had been enhanced and got in front of the demon in a second. But it already was attacking the space that Ino was occupying at that moment thanks to sensing the vibrations in the ground.

Grunting, Ino flitted out of the way, ended up behind the demon and struck it's hind leg with Masemune. It wasn't a deep cut, but the demon roared in pain and used one of it's tendrils to strike back. The girl flitted again and attacked, the cold metal of Masemune just scraping the demon's front. Unfortunately that was all she could do. Her remaining chakra was dwindling from using one of the Gates and side effects of her clone and the other use of the Gates was still weighing heavily on her.

She continued to flit, attack and flit again. However she could feel herself slowing down and knew that she needed to end this quick. So, with a final flit, she appeared underneath the demon's head and with all her mustered strength kicked the underside, hard. The monster's head snapped up, including it's body and that was the moment she turned her gaze to the brunette.

"NOW TENTEN!"

* * *

Tenten didn't need to be told twice.

With all the energy she had been gathering, her grey orbs narrow down her target. With Green Dragon in hand, Tenten crossed her arm over her chest, her knees bent slightly. "Roar," the girl whispered, "GREEN DRAGON!"

And with a shout that could pierce the heavens, Tenten swung her Chinese naginata in an upward arc. But unlike the last time, the gust of wind that ripped through the air had morphed into a dragon's head, It's sights on the demon in front of it. The blonde saw the attack coming and jumped out of the way and not a moment later, the wind dragon's maw opened up, swallowing the demon and went up towards the air carrying it with it.

Round and round it went as the demon soared higher into the air, and after a few more seconds the wind dispersed. Gravity instantly took over as the monster from the demon realm began to fall and unfortunately for it, it would never touch the ground again.

Not wasting the chance, the blonde hunter jumped up. When she was somehow higher than the demon, the girl brought her katana above her head, the metal gleaming in the moonlight behind her. Finally, with a shout, Ino brought down Masemune upon the demon's face, and slice down in one fluid motion.

The demon let out the loudest roar it could manage as it's body slowly started to slide in half. Then in the next moment, the roar died out as the monster slowly fizzled into black mist, evaporating in the air.

Tenten smiled at the sight. _It's finally over..._

But the smile that crept on her face suddenly disappeared when she saw the blonde's body grow stiff, the aura surrounding her dispersing and the girl was now falling down, fast. _Oh SHIT!_ Tenten cursed in her thoughts and ran towards the place she was about to land. She wasn't going to make it however, so she gritted her teeth and slid on the ground, her arms out at the ready. The rough ground scrapped her skin but she thankfully was able to catch Ino.

"Are you alright, Ino!" the brunette cried out, but didn't get a response. "Ino!"

"You... don't need to... shout..." was the reply, and Tenten let out a sigh of relief, a genuine smile displayed for the blonde to see. And surprising the brunette, a smile was returned.

* * *

"That's what happened," Tenten said happily, grabbing some rāmen from her bowl and slurping it in her mouth. She was sitting at one of the booths at Rāmen Ichiraku's having just finished explaining the night's events to Sakura and Hinata, who were sitting across from her. The blonde was also there, sitting next to the brunette, eating her own meal.

"That's amazing, Tenten," Hinata chimed, then turned to gaze at the pinkette. "Don't you think so, Sakura-chan?"

The pink haired demon gave a nod, her arms folding in front of her chest. "I have to admit, I'm impressed," the demon girl complimented. For some reason, Tenten felt pride fill her chest from it. The girl then turned to Ino, her facial expression taking on an apologetic look. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been there. I was fighting a tough demon of my own."

"There's no need to apologise," Ino told her, "Besides, had you been there, I would have denied your help. After all, I didn't want your big forehead getting in the way."

The pink haired girl's eyebrow twitched but kept her composure. Instead, she smirked, which actually sent a shiver down the tomboy's spine. "I see. But then again, the demon would have been too distracted by the sound you would have made. Right, Ino-pig?"

This time the blonde's eyebrow twitched and she too smiled. And was it just her, or could she see electricity running between Ino and Sakura? Hinata laughed nervously and decided to speak up, hoping to dispel the glaring match the demon and hunter were having.

"So where's the Green Dragon now Tenten?" she asked.

"It's back hanging up in the dojo," she replied very thankful for her childhood friend. "Turns out whatever was inside the blade had given me the power to help take out the demon but once it was killed, the power was gone, and now it's just a normal decoration." As soon as the brunette had launched her last attack, whatever remaining power that had been dormant inside had completely vanished. Just like she had explained, it was now back in it's proper place and where it would forever stay.

Suddenly the door bell to the restaurant jingled, causing Tenten to turn her head and look. What the brunette saw, walking through those doors, surprised her.

"Ino, look," she called out to the blonde, who turned her blue gaze to Tenten before the door. The girl's eyes widened when she saw that it was the demon father she had protected that night and he had come with his wife. The son however was nowhere to be seen. The couple walked up to Ayame, who was at the counter and spoke to her. The owner's daughter then gestured to the group of four, and with a clear thank you, the husband and wife started to make their way towards them.

Ino's gaze quickly turned away from the pair, her eyes looking down instead, her hands tightly balled up into fist underneath the table. Tenten could tell the girl was still anxious. She had been fine in front of them when the demon had been there, fighting the monster at the front of her mind. But now that the distraction was gone, it was all coming back now.

Without thinking, Tenten reached underneath the table and clasped one of Ino's fists. The girl's eyes widened in surprise and turned her sky blue eyes onto grey. The tomboy smiled warmly and mouthed the same words that Ino had said on that night.

"I believe in you, Ino."

The wide eyes of Ino soon returned to what they were, her hands now resting calmly in her lap. When the older couple came up to their table and called out Ino's name, the girl herself looked at them with the confidence that a demon hunter should have.

"Yes sir?" the girl replied.

"Please, there's no need to be so formal," the demon man spoke. "After how we've treated you, we actually owe you an apology, and our thanks."

"But I don't-" Ino began but was cut off by the husband.

"Please let me finish," he continued. The girl remained silent after that. "When you came to us at the park that day and apologised to us, I admit, I was angry. I remembered when you tried to kill us the first time and I just couldn't let that go." Tenten could tell that the girl still felt the guilt as she lowered her gaze again.

"But," he carried on, making Ino look up again. "After what you did, nearly sacrificing your life to save me and my family, I knew then that your intentions at the park were pure. You could have easily left us to die, but you didn't."

"We made a huge mistake," this time it was the wife that spoke. "And that's why, Yamanaka-san, I hope you can forgive us!" The woman then bowed her head low, followed by the man, taking the girl aback.

"Please, raise your heads!" Ino cried in a whisper, not wanting to attract too much attention. They did as she said and Ino let out a sigh. "Like I tried to say, I don't deserve it. But, if we can put this behind us and move forward, I'd really love to do that." She smiled at the end, the delight in the couple was easily recognisable as they too smiled, bowing there heads once more only to get reprimanded by the blonde again.

The couple soon left with satisfaction and the group got back to eating and chatting. And all the while, Tenten noticed that a huge weight had lifted itself off her shoulders. For the first time, since she had apologised at the park, did she see a smile that reached her ears. She was practically glowing.

And unknown to them both, they had kept holding hands through out their time at Ichiraku Rāmens and only separated when it was time to head off home.

* * *

 **There you have it. Sorry if the ending and near it were too quick and lacklustre, and the explanation for Tenten's power wasn't done properly but this chapter will forever be in Demonic Love now. The next chapter will be Konan's so I'm going to try my very best into doing that one better. So please, bear with me!**

 **Also, even though Tenten had power for a short amount of time, would you like to see her use it again in the near future? Please let me know, and I'll try and see what I can do.**

 **Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	29. The Demon Realm, Konan's Recollection

**Hey guys, and welcome to another chapter of Demonic Love. On my A/N on chapter 3, I had said about an opening and ending for each chapter. Those songs were:  
** **Opening - Turn to you by Mashiro Ayano  
Ending - Passcode 4854 by Rei Yasuda  
**

 **Now, this story (including the summer vacation part) is about half way done. It's now only got one more arc with a last character reveal and then the final arc afterwards. So since it's at the half way point, I've decided to switch the songs which are now:**

 **Opening - Cascade by UNLIMITS  
Ending - Zen Zen Zense by RADWIMPS (Tsuko.G's cover version)**

 **I know these songs have been used but I'd use them anyway.**

 **I like to say thank you to the people who had followed and favourited this story and there is something I like to point out.**

 **I got a review with criticism, which I appreciate and if you want to know what they said, then can read it from the review part. But I want to say, like I had when I started this story, that this had been an original story, so some of the characters I used for the roles in this story don't suit the character themselves.**

 **E.g. Sakura being the kind of the cold/stoic character. Hinata what she is, instead of being her shy self from the show. etc.** **There is a reason why Hinata is like that, but that will be explained in the future, but not in this story.**

 **Anyway back to the task at hand!**

 **Like always,** **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Meditation.

A practice where the individual operates or trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realise some benefit or for the mind to simply acknowledge its content without becoming identified with that content or as an end in itself.

And normally, Konan was a master at it. She would sit in her quarters and meditate for hours on end. It helped her to keep focus and prepared for anything, but sometimes she would do mainly because she was bored too. But today was a day she couldn't do it. She was distracted, her thoughts clouded. And she knew why that was.

Her little sister, Sarada. Every time she closed her eyes to try and get focused, the girl would instantly appear in her head. Ever since her father, the Demon Lord Sasuke, tried to kill the younger girl, the girl's expression was stuck in the front of her mind. The girl might not have known it, but Konan knew the spectacle eyed girl had been crying when she exited the throne room.

 _I need a break,_ she thought to herself, and stood up from the cushion she had been sitting on. Just as she slid open her door and took a step out, her body instantly collided with another. Konan remained standing while the other person hit the floor, and that was when she realised she had hit one of the slaves working in the castle. It was a girl, and getting a good look at her, she looked to be in her early twenties.

 _What a cruel way of starting adulthood._

"Are you alright?" the older woman asked, kneeling down to the younger girl and placing a gentle hand her shoulder.

"Y-Yes," the girl stuttered a reply. She turned her head to look at the bluenette and the moment her gaze landed on Konan's amber eyes, they widened with fear. And the woman knew that look all too well. The girl, realising who she had bumped into, suddenly got to her knees and prostrated herself.

"I-I'm s-sorry Konan-sama!" the girl cried. Konan tensed up from having that honorific attached at the end of her name. It made her feel superior. Which she was, but she hate having that feeling. "I beg of you please forgive me! My family is still living in the human world and if word back to Sasuke-sama then I don't know what would happen!"

Konan could feel the bile gather up in her stomach as she watched the girl desperately pleading. The woman kept her face solemn, but deep inside she wanted to touch the girl, again, tell her that she didn't need to do this. But she couldn't do that. No doubt that if word got out that a member of her family treated one particular slave with kindness, they would be isolated from the rest of slaves. In this place, the walls literally had ears. The girl didn't deserve that. Hell, all the humans that had been forced to come here didn't deserve it.

So, even though it pained her to do so, Konan closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she opened them again, the woman's amber eyes were glaring at the back of the girl's head. The blue haired woman then casually, lifted her foot and placed it, hard, on the younger woman's fingers. The girl squeak in pain from the pressure on her thin appendages.

"You had best be careful, human," Konan said coldly, resorting to a persona that she used to be. Before she started _caring_. "If you make another mistake like that, your fingers won't be the only things I will crush. Understand?"

The girl nodded, let out a pained "Yes!" before she released her fingers. With that, Konan walked away from the slave girl but when she got a few feet away from her, the demon woman could her the sobs. She looked over her shoulder, and saw the girl was clutching the hand tightly. "Mommy... Daddy..."

Konan watched the girl a moment longer, before she turned her head and walked away. But not before apologising to the girl mentally, for the pain she caused and of the threat she made.

* * *

She had spent maybe half hour of wandering the halls of the castle. Even after decades of living in this place, nothing really changed. The same old wooden walls. The same old wooden floor. Demons, once they get to a certain age, grow up one year for every decade that passes. So for the older of the demon siblings, Konan has been here for a long, long time.

Coming to a stop, the amber eyed girl made her way to one of the windows and slid it open. She leaned on the frame and looked upon the outside of 'her' world. The sky's were painted a dark, crimson red, and in this realm there were no clouds in the sky. Tall mountains could be seen at a far distance, and on Konan's north-east side, were large trees, the same size as the ones from Konohagakure.

That place was called the Demon Forest. Inside it contained all the wild demons that lived in this realm. It was also a place were the demons would send their slaves or weaker demons for sport, watching as the wild ones attack and tear them apart. Again her stomach churned at the mere thought of the humans being killed.

 _I've changed. A lot._ When had this change occurred? _That's right. It was because of_ her. Even now, Konan can still remember that day, like it was yesterday.

* * *

Her father, once, had gone to the human's realm and encountered a woman there. She wasn't just an ordinary woman, however. She had been shrine maiden, with supernatural powers. She also had a family; a husband and a daughter, but he didn't care and the Demon Lord couldn't resist. At the dead of night, he had taken her and brought her to the demon realm.

But the amazing thing was, the woman wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid when she was taken, and she certainly wasn't afraid when he had became one with her. It was like she had anticipated this kind of event. The shrine maiden, thanks to her father, soon became pregnant and during the nine months everyone was told to leave the woman alone. He had placed Konan, as she was the eldest, as the protector of the shrine maiden until the birth.

Konan remained in the shadows as she watched the woman. Watched as the woman simply did... nothing. She sat in her futon, her body still and eyes closed. If it wasn't for the fact that her chest moved in and out, Konan would have thought the woman had died where she sat. It was after a couple of days of this, of watching the woman doing nothing, that the demon woman spoke up.

 _"What are you doing, human?"_ she asked coldly, but with a hint of intrigue.

 _"Meditating,"_ was the simply, but gentle reply she was given. "It helps me relax and focus." The shrine maiden then opened her eyes and those orbs, which Konan found out to be emerald gems, gently gazed into her amber ones.

 _"Would you like to join me?"_

Konan was surprised by the suggestion and should have then and there refused. She didn't watch this woman so she could be friendly. But the word 'no' didn't come out of her mouth. Instead, she gave a slow nod and proceeded to sit down next to her charge. The shrine maiden then told her the steps. Close her eyes, inhale, hold for a second before exhaling, before finally, she was told to empty all thoughts.

 _"How do you feel?"_ the woman asked, after a minute or two in comfortable silence.

And probably for the first time in her life, Konan answered with honesty. "I feel calm, peaceful even." It was a surprise to her. She had never felt like this before. This place was a dog eat dog world, where only the strong survive, and the weak are either slaves or dead.

When the blue haired woman heard the sound of a giggle, she opened her eyes and saw another sweetly sight; her smile. _"How can you smile at a time like this?"_ the Konan asked, baffled.

 _"Why?"_ the woman repeated. _"That's because,"_ she started and then turned her eyes downward and gingerly placed her hand on her stomach, _"if I'm sad, your little sister will know it. And I don't want her to feel that."_

 _"Sister? It's only been a few days. How can you tell?"_

 _"A mother's intuition,"_ she told her. " _Would you like to feel her?"_

This time, Konan gave the the woman a confused look. Again smiling, the shrine maiden took the blue haired girl's hand and placed it on her stomach. _"I don't feel anything,"_ she told her honestly. But she continued to smile and told her to go through the steps of meditation, which she did. With her mind now focused, that was when she could feel it.

Life. It was faint, extremely faint. But she could feel the beginning of life coming from within this woman. The edges of Konan's lips teased themselves up, without her knowing, when she felt the life in the woman's womb, and an unknown warmth spread through her chest.

From that point forward, during the nine months, Konan almost spent everyday with the human woman. She learned many things about the human realm, like places, food. She also mentioned things about her daughter that she been forced to leave back home. And every time she saw the woman, her stomach was growing bigger and bigger. But she could also tell that the woman was getting weaker and weaker. Konan had a bad feeling about it, but decided to carry on.

Until finally, it was the day of the birth.

The blue haired woman was there when the shrine maiden was laying down in one of the chambers, demon doctors at the ready waiting for the baby to come out. The woman's cries were the only thing filling the room as she pushed as hard as she could. Konan was holding the woman's hand and her's was being held tightly by the emerald eyed woman. Then soon, with one last push, the cries of a child were the ones to come after. The doctors had said that it had been a baby girl and for a reason she couldn't explain, the woman trembled. Konan took the new life in her arms, not minding the blood that was still on the little creature and just watched and listened to it cry.

When her brothers and sisters were born, she never did this; hold them. But this child, she did. A warm feeling had started to blossom within her chest seeing the girl wiggle in her arms.

 _"Konan-chan..."_ the voice of the woman had called out to her and when she had turned to look, the woman's gentle eyes were drooping. _"Can I... see her?"_ The amber eyed woman gave a nod, and sat down next to the mother of the child, placing the tiny girl in the mother's arm.

 _"She's...beautiful..."_ she said. That was when she could feel it. The shrine maiden's life was near it's end. _"Listen, Konan-chan,"_ she continued, _"this girl... my daughter... she's special. She is... the only thing... that can change... everything."_ Slowly her heartbeat began to decrease more and more. But Konan continued to listen to every word. These were her last words so she needed to hear it.

 _"Please... love her... and protect her. I... trust you, Ko... nan...chan..."_

And with those last words, the human female was gone. Not even a moment later, the baby in woman's dead arms began to cry, as if it knew what had happened. She knew how she felt though.

Konan wanted to cry too.

* * *

"Come on, Jūgo!" a sudden loud voice made Konan leave her recollection and she turned her amber gaze down. From where she was standing, the woman had a clear view of the training grounds that the castle had. The grounds themselves where spacious. It was the width and length of the grounds were of that of half a soccer field back in the human realm. There where also wooden training dummies and target boards, but they were more of a cosmetic than actual use. After all, why use them when you had actual demons to practice with in the Demon Forest.

Standing in the middle where her two brothers; Jūgo and Suigetsu. The orange haired man had his arms across his chest, his eyes closed. Konan could sense that he was irritated. Suigetsu, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. The massive sword he used as a weapon was dug into the ground next to him.

"As I've told you many times," the taller of the two replied, "the answer is still no."

"But I'm bored!" Suigetsu complained. It wasn't just Jūgo, but Konan was getting a little annoyed too. For the past couple of days, all the white haired demon had been doing was complain. He would continually say that he was bored in his quarters, in the corridors of the castle. Once, he even shouted it outside and now it looks like he was now at his breaking point. "And since we're not allowed to leave here, fighting you is the only thing!"

Jūgo let out a tired sigh. "You do know that we have a forest full of demons," he told him. "Why don't you go and relieve your boredom there? That, or go and ask one of the girls?"

The purple eyed man just stared at the orange haired man for a second before he suddenly burst into laughter. Whatever he was laughing about must have been very funny, because he was now holding his sides. Konan and Jūgo cocked an eyebrow at Suigetsu's outburst.

"Y-You're joking, right?!" Suigetsu asked in between fits of laughter. "First of all, there's no way in hell I'm asking Tayuya. When I went past her room, I heard strange things in there so I got the hell out." Konan understood what he meant. When she had walked around the castle, she passed the pinkette's room and her ears picked up multiple moans coming inside. They were either moans of pleasure, or moans of pain, but Konan didn't want to find out.

"Himiko's no doubt sucking up to father," he continued. "Sarada's no where to be seen. And as for Konan..." The woman herself narrowed her eyes, wondering, or more likely intrigued, on what her white haired brother was going to say about her. "...She's just a bore."

And that intrigue went right out of the window. Konan continued to keep her stoic expression, but the delicate, thin fingers crunching the frame of the window told a different story. _It seems that I've got to teach my little brother some manners about talking behind people's backs._ But for now, instead of interjecting, Konan continued to listen.

"I'm sorry to hear about your predicament, Suigetsu," Jūgo told him.

"Does that mean you'll spare with me then?!" the other demon asked in plain excitement.

"No," was the simple reply, before the orange haired man turned on his heel and began to walk away, clearly having enough, clearly the end of the conversation. Or it should have been. If there was one thing that Konan knew about Suigetsu, it was that he was persistent. The moment that Jūgo walked away, the white haired man's annoyed expression quickly turned into a smirk.

"Hey, Jūgo!"

The man himself stopped in his tracks and let a audible sigh, before turning around to face the annoying demon. "Like I just said, I'm not-" Jūgo's sentence was cut short, his eyes wide, as a sudden water dragon made it's way towards the orange haired demon. Then, it made it's way towards the sky before it made it's descent, the dragon's maw wide open as it swallowed Jūgo whole and splashed on the ground. After that, all that remained was a soaked Jūgo, his head downcast. Silence soon took over the training grounds. But though it was silent, the atmosphere was getting heavier, and Konan, even Suigetsu, knew why that was, and where it lead too.

"Okay, Suigetsu. You want to have a fight, I'll give you one," Jūgo began, his voice a serious, threatening tone, completely different to what it was just a moment ago. His skin began to grow darker, a black stripe running down from the middle of his forehead and down the bridge if his nose and the murderous intent that was radiating off of him could be felt from where Konan was standing. The Jūgo before Suigetsu now was the 'true' Jūgo. A Jūgo that loved to fight and kill. His murderous side.

"I'll warn you now," the demonic Jūgo continued, his smile wicked. "If I kill you, don't go fucking crying to me!" With that, booster-like appendages grew from Jūgo's back, ripping through the tattered shirt he wore and lunged at the awaiting Suigetsu, whom was smiling all the while. The white haired man grasped his massive sword and ran at the charging demonic Jūgo and both men began the match that Suigetsu had longed for.

 _Men..._ Konan sighed, watching the fight with disinterest. Feeling that, she was about to move on, until she heard something from a distance. It sounded like a thousand birds chirping and when she turned to look for the source, her amber gaze saw blue lightning come from within the Demon Forest and hit the crimson sky. _Chidori?_

There were only one person she knew that could do that technique and he was still inside the castle. Even if he wasn't, the Demon Lord would have no need to go in the forest. After all, he was the strongest demon there was and even the wild demons knew not to mess with him. Now this piqued her interest. Ignoring the fight that was going below her, Konan climbed through the open window and jumped out, landing on the training grounds and ran, heading towards the source of the Chidori.

The sound of her brother's fighting moving further and further away.

* * *

Her back against a large tree, Sarada let out heavy, laboured breaths. Sweat drenched her forehead, her onyx locks sticking to her skin, as she held her left arm tightly which was bleeding profusely. There was a deep gash on her left appendage, and had it not been for her enhanced agility and quick thinking, her arm would have been severed clean through. The demon girl was also running low on power and her entire body ached. If it wasn't for the adrenaline rushing through her veins, the girl would have collapsed from exhaustion.

Her eyes suddenly went wide as a malicious aura appeared from behind the tree and with quaking legs, lunged herself forward just in time for something to cut through the tree she was leaning against, plus additional trees that surrounded her. All of the trees struck soon began to topple over, but they never got a chance to hit the ground as black flames engulfed them all and turned them into nothingness.

Sarada clenched her teeth and managed to stand up, though she struggled, before turning to the individual that now made the area tree free. Shoulder length pink hair framed the face that held emerald and demonic yellow orbs that gave Sarada a cold, emotionless look. Black flames covered their entire arm before it slowly dispersed, replacing it with a Scythe in their hand, the defined, black robe they wore fluttering to whatever little wind their was in the forest. The onyx haired girl glared at the person that had her father's complete attention.

Haruno Sakura.

Just seeing the mere sight of her made Sarada's blood pump with anger. It was because of her that her father treated the way he did that day. Were he had nearly killed her. She was the one that made her feel like an outcast to her family. _That's why, once I kill you, father and everyone else will have no choice but to see me in a different light and she me respect!_

With the last of her power, Sarada channelled all her energy to her right hand. After a second or so, electricity began to spark between her fingers and after another moment, lightning had completely gathered in her hand. "Chidori..." the girl whispered, and with war cry, Sarada surged herself towards the pink haired demon, the arm that held the attack leaving a trail of debris in it's wake.

"Amaterasu..."the pinkette spoke in a monotone voice. The scythe turned in black flames before engulfing the girl's left arm once more. Sarada pushed her arm forward, once she was close, the sound of a thousand birds chirping soared through the space between the girls. The Chidori was about midway when a black flamed hand grasped it, snuffing it out of existence like a firework sparkler.

Before she could get a word out, Haruno Sakura's free hand went toward Sarada's face, grabbing it, the onyx haired girl's eyes growing wide through the gaps of the scythe wielder's slender fingers. The next thing the smaller girl knew, the pinkette left her line of sight, shifting forward, before she herself was thrown back with strong force. Sarada flew into several trees, breaking them cleanly in half, before hitting the stump of an already fallen tree.

Sarada let out a sharp, painful gasp, her eyes closed tightly as the pain shot through her back. _Damn it..._ she cursed inwardly, popping open one eye. Just as she did, she saw that the girl's scythe had reappeared in her hand, Amaterasu withdrawn itself from her arm, and instead two wings made of black flame grew out from her back.

"Amertarasu no Tsubasa," the pinkette muttered under her breath. With her new found wings, the pink haired demon began her flight towards the injured and powerless Sarada, her scythe ready for the kill.

But with a flash of blue and her vision of the pinkette being obscured, their monotone voice was the only thing that she could hear as the pinkette's scythe stopped close to their face.

"Stop."

* * *

The second the command left her lips, Konan's amber eyes met that of deadly silver, the scythe's blade was just mere finger width apart from her face. "Stand down," she told the pinkette and she complied. As soon as the blade moved away from her face, Konan instantly regretted it. Her chest tightened and her stomach began to knot itself when she saw Sakura's heterochromatic eyes staring into her's silently. Without her realising, the older woman covered whatever distance there was between them, and raised her hand toward the girl's face, her fingers almost grazing the girl's skin.

She stopped herself however, fingers practically brushing the pinkette's cheek bones. Pulling her hand away, Konan clenched it into a tight fist, before placing it back down her side again. She realised, as much as she wanted to touch the person in front of her, she shouldn't. And couldn't.

Because the person before her wasn't even the real Haruno Sakura. Raising her hand once more, instead of the cheek Konan lifted her hand toward the pinkette's forehead, placing two fingertips on top of it. With one last look at the girl in front of her, Konan spoke the word, "Release," before the image of Haruno Sakura was fizzled out. Replacing her was a humanoid of cold, silver metal, it's blank face now the only thing looking at her.

An effigy. That was what the thing in front of her was called. It was a machine which took in data and would become whatever the information it was given. In this case, the data had been Haruno Sakura, from the time when she fought the white-skinned fiend. The woman then turned to eye the girl on the ground. Sarada's widened when they made contact but she quickly looked away, closed them and finally stood up.

"I had it handled," the girl spoke in annoyance. "I didn't need your help."

"That wound tells a different story," Konan said, her amber eyes gazing at the gash on the younger girl's arm. Sarada covered it up with her hand.

"It's nothing serious. It'll heal soon." The onyx haired girl then moved past Konan and stood in front of the unmoving effigy. "Now if you don't mind, I want to carry on with my training."

'Training' was what she called it. Konan highly doubted that. The older demon had arrived just in time to see some of the fight. The way she used Chidori, a lethal attack that only the Demon Lord could use, and the intent on killing her target made it seem more like a personal grudge. That was when a little known fact came into place in her head.

"Is this about what happened in the throne room?"

That question was met with only silence, but it also stopped Sarada in her tracks, which meant that Konan had hit the nail right on the head. It was a personal grudge.

"Sarada-"

"Shut up!"

For once, Konan's amber eyes growing wide betrayed her stoic expression. For the first time, ever since Sarada was able to talk, the girl shouted with such anger. Besides herself, the onyx haired girl was the most calm and calculating out of the family. To hear Sarada go out of character was a surprise for her.

"I hate her," she continued, her voice even now. "Because of her, father almost killed me. I was humiliated, because of her!" The girl raised her hand slightly and gazed at it. The flesh of her palm and fingers had been singed black, a clear sign of someone overusing Chidori that hasn't mastered it yet. If Sarada was in pain, she didn't show it.

"That's why, since that day, I've been training almost none stop, hoping that some day, I'll be able to kill her. And through with that thought in mind, I was finally able to use father's technique. But..." She closed her singed hand into a tight fist, her teeth visibly gritted. "Even with an technique that can pierce through almost anything, it was easily stopped by that black flame."

"Amaterasu, the immortal black flame," Konan spoke, the younger girl looking at her now. "It cannot be extinguished by normal means. Only by the user. And it can burn for seven days and nights."

"How do you know all that?"

Konan was silent for a moment, contemplating on what she was going to say. She understood why the girl was slightly confused. She was the youngest member of the family, but she was the only one who didn't know who Haruno Sakura truly was. As a matter of fact, even Sakura herself didn't know.

"Sarada," she called out the younger girl's name, and then told her bluntly, "Give up on killing Haruno Sakura." The shock was very evident by how wide the girls eyes widened, and she looked as if she was going to protest. Konan stopped her before she could though. "There's a reason for it."

And Konan then told Sarada everything. Told her who Haruno sakura really was, how she came to be and why their father was so focused on her. Once all was said, there was silence, the older demon waiting for Sarada to process all the information.

"You're joking, right?" the girl murmured.

"I'm not," Konan replied. "You, me, Tayuya and the others. We wouldn't be able to kill Sakura by normal means." Not like the woman wanted to any way. "And even if you did, Sarada, killing her would only make it much worse for you."

"I see..." The girl was quiet for another moment, closing her eyes, most likely thinking. Suddenly, a smile curled it's way on her lips. "By normal means, huh..." the girl muttered. Konan narrowed her eyes, hearing every word. Like she had thought before, Sarada was a really smart girl. So the look that she saw on the onyx haired girl's face was a mix of determination and tactfulness.

"I'm sorry, Konan-onēsan, but I must be on my way."

With those words, Sarada jumped up onto one of the tree's branches, that was still standing, and started leaping away. All the while, Konan's amber eyes never left the girl's form. The bluenette knew that their was something going on in her mind. She was hatching a plan.

And Konan had a bad feeling about it.

* * *

Sitting in his throne chair, Sasuke smirked. Sakura had unlocked another part of her power. Amaterasu no Tsubasa. The wings of Amaterasu. And it was all thanks to Tayuya disobeying his orders and going into the human realm. He was going to punish her severely, but when he noticed spike in Sakura's power, he decided against. Because thanks to her, the Demon Lord's plans were come closer to fruition.

"Just a little more," he spoke out loud. "Just a little more. One more push, and she'll be ready. And then..."

The massive double doors to the throne room suddenly opened, cutting off Sasuke. Wondering who dared enter without permission, the onyx haired man's eyes glowed threateningly. When he saw that it was his youngest and failure as a daughter, Sarada, the temptation to kill her on the spot was grew in an instant.

"Father," the girl called him, walking up to the steps leading to his chair and knelt down on one knee.

"You would dare show your face in front of me, Sarada. You really are a foolish girl."

"That's right," she responded, calmly and then spoke up confidently, "But this foolish girl has a plan to help you."

Sasuke furrowed his brow and narrowed his visible eye. What had happened to the girl that had been almost crying? The girl's head went up, her eyes looking into Sasuke's and he could see that their was no fear. The Demon Lord let out a hum of amusement.

"Interesting," he said. "And? What's this plan of yours?"

The girl adjusted her glasses and stood up with her head held high. "I know everything, father. The real truth about Haruno Sakura and why you are so fixated on her."

"Do you now. But what's that got to do with this plan you have?"

There was a short pause, in which the girl smiled at her father.

"I know a way to get back what's rightfully yours."

* * *

 **And there we have it. The next chapter is going to be the last in the summer filler, which is Hinata and Sakura, and will link into the arc with the new character.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	30. Final Day of Summer, Hinata's Feelings

**Hello everyone, extremely sorry for the late update. I was really struggling with this chapter, and honestly struggling in general. So at the end of this chapter, there will be an important A/N at the end.**

 **I would like to give my sincere gratitude to the people who had favorite and followed this story, and even me as well. Honestly I wasn't expecting my mail to pile up to fast at how many followed after the last chapter, so honestly you don't know how much I appreciate it.**

 **Anyway, this chapter will mark the end of the summer filler and will go onto the second to last arc of this story, so let's get on with it shall we?**

 **Like always,** **I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

It was the last day of summer vacation, August 31st, and for the ravenette, Hyūga Hinata, it was a very special day. She was standing in front of Konoha's railway station, and since today was a special occasion the girl opted to wear something nice. A white, knee-length summer dress underneath a long sleeved, blue cardigan and completing the look with flat Mary Jane shoes. It was the first time, in a long time, that she could remember actually thinking about what to wear.

One hand held a handbag in front of her lap while the other she twisted to see the time on her watch. _10.30._ Seeing the time, Hinata's stomach began to play up on her. It was the time that she and Sakura where supposed to meet up. Normally, common sense dictates that if the person you're meeting up lives in the same house as you, you'd leave together instead of waiting around for them. But that was why today was special, why today was different. Today, she, Hyūga Hinata, was going on a date... with Sakura. Her heart started to do back flips from just thinking that.

For most of the summer vacation, it's been either the Hyūga girl working at the café, Sakura exterminating demons, or the both of them doing their summer homework (after doing said activities before first). The only time she ever got to relax was late at night, but by then Hinata would be completely exhausted from doing her other tasks and she wouldn't get to spend anytime with the pinkette one at all, whom by now was out killing any demons that were threatening Konohagakure.

 _But then again, there was that time on the beach._

A couple days back, Hinata, Sakura, a very excited Tenten and a very reluctant Ino had gone to the beaches of Konoha to 'bask in the sun' as the brunette had put it. When the ravenette first saw the pink haired girl in a floral white, two piece swimsuit, that they had bought the day before the trip, her face became red as a beat and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Tenten had begun to discreetly tease the girl about it, but she had tried her best to ignore her childhood friend's jabs.

Most of that day had gone smoothly. The childhood friends played in the ocean while Sakura sat down on the beach and watched, the current of the water hitting her toes every now and again. Once in a while she saw a boy or two trying to flirt with her, which had made the girl's chest tighten. Sakura, however, just gave one look at those boys and just blatantly ignored them. It got bad at one point where one of the boys tried to grab the girl forcefully. But it didn't end well, for him anyway.

Suffice to say, that guy now knew what it was like to become ostrich with it's head buried beneath the ground.

Ino, on the other hand, who also wore a two piece swimsuit, opted to stay underneath the parasol and read a book she had brought with her instead. Like what happened to Sakura, a guy or a group of them would ask her if she wanted to hang out with them, but with a practiced glare, and a threat about doing something to their unmentionable parts, from the blonde made them think twice about asking her something like that again.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the nice day had soon turned for the worse when a demon had appeared from within the ocean. Sakura had once told her, back when they had first met; that demons had preferred to attack at night. But it seemed now that they were getting bolder as time continued to pass. Thankfully, with the combined efforts from Sakura and Ino, the demon was no match and was easily killed by the two huntresses. But the hard part had come after and that was dealing with the people that had stayed on the beach, watching the entire spectacle.

There where to many for Sakura to rewrite their memories, like she had done back at the incident at the café, but thankfully she didn't need to. With a surprising quick thinking from Tenten (which still amazed Hinata), the girl's were able to pass it off as a one time event.

The girl's lips curled into a smile from the memory. Even though it didn't end the way they hoped, going to the beach with everyone was a precious memory for Hinata. Especially when she got to see Sakura have fun in her own way.

Her heart began to beat rapidly anew and her stomach tightened in knots from just thinking of her. It was making the ravenette nervous enough to be going on a date with the pinkette, but what made it completely nerve wracking, was what her ultimate goal was at the end of this.

Today, on the last day of summer, Hinata was finally going to confess her feelings for Sakura.

It's been a little over a month now since the pink haired demon girl came into her life and changed everything around. It's also the first time she's ever fallen in love with someone before. Especially someone from the same sex. From the time Hinata could remember, when she was a little girl, her mother would read her classic romance stories, about boy meets girl and how they eventually fall in love. To make sure what she felt for Sakura was genuine, she'd read a few books and looked up things online in the past.

Heart rate increase? Check. Wanting to spend more time with them, and get to know them better? Check. Begin to have sensual dreams about the person that you're in love with? Thankfully, she hadn't gotten that far into the stage yet.

"Hinata."

Even the sound of her voice was music to Hinata's ears. Turning her head toward the sound of the voice, her white eyed gaze saw the girl she liked walk in her direction. She blushed again from the sight. Like her, the pinkette wore an outfit that she herself had picked out. A black, casual blazer over a white blouse. The blouse was tucked into a blue denim skirt, underneath were black tights that wrapped around her slender but slightly toned legs, and finished with brown, knee-length boots.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Sakura apologized. "I'm still not used to these types of clothes and it took a while to... Hinata? Are you alright?"

"Huh?" she made a noise, before another blush, this time from embarrassment, dusted her cheeks as she realized that she had just been staring at the pink haired girl. Hinata let out a nervous chuckle. "I-I'm fine, Sakura-chan," she stuttered a reply, cursing herself for doing so.

But thank the gods Sakura let it slide as she responded with, "I see," which was then followed by an awkward silence. Mainly for the ravenette. Her cheeks still bore the crimson hue of embarrassment, and her gaze suddenly found the ground interesting instead, the grip on her handbag tightened.

"So," Sakura was first to break the silence, "what do you think about my clothes?"

"Clothes?" the girl repeated, looking back.

"Yeah," Sakura continued. She placed her hand behind her head and looked down, her gaze leaving mine and now it was her turn to find the ground interesting. "To be honest, I don't know much about the human realm's fashion, so I just grabbed anything from the clothing store and put it on." She then looked sheepishly back up, emerald meeting white orbs. "So I was wondering what you thought?"

 _You look breathtakingly beautiful._ "It suits you," Hinata said with a smile, covering up the honest thought that she really wanted to say instead. The time to say those sort of things would come later. The thing that she needed to do first was to get her nerve wracking confession out in the open. _One step at a time._

"I'm glad," Sakura smiled, happy with the response that Hinata had given her. The pink haired girl then proceeded to close the remaining distance between them, stopping next to the ravenette. Raising her gauze wrapped hand toward her, Sakura asked her with a small smile, "Shall we go?"

The girl stared at the offered wrapped appendage for one second before a smile of her own grew. To Sakura, holding hands was the sort of thing that friends seemed to do. But for her, it meant something more. Giving her a nod, she took the outstretched hand. Warmth instantly spread through her chest and she and Sakura both made otheir way toward the station.

Today was going to be a great day.

* * *

The train ride to their destination was a quiet, but peaceful one. But the unfortunate thing was that the car that they where on was packed to the brim with people. She and Sakura weren't the only ones making the use of the last day of summer. The pinkette and Hinata where stuck near the closed door, her back pressed against it.

Sakura was standing in front of her, her right hand pressed against the door for support while her gauze wrapped one was around Hinat's waist. In the position she was in, she felt protected, her hands where in between them and her handbag was in between her feet. But while she might have felt safe, her body _was_ pressed up against the Hyūga girl's which only made her heart beat grow faster by the second. But that wasn't the worst of it. What made it so was that the boots the pinkette was wearing added extra height for the girl, making her slightly taller.

Which also meant that her nose was near the pinkette's clavicle. The smell of the Sakura's perfume engulfed Hinata's senses and when she looked up to Sakura's face, Hinata inwardly gasped, her face blushing furiously now at noticing how close the demon girl's face actually was. Hinata prayed to any god that Sakura wouldn't feel how fast her heart rate was going right this second.

But as if she knew that she was being watched, the demon girl's one eyed gaze turned to meet her own. "Are you alright, Hinata? I'm not crushing you am I?"

Hinata quickly tore her gaze away, but shook her head 'no' in response. Seeming satisfied with that answer, the pinkette went back to looking outside the door's glass window.

 _What should I do?_ Hinata thought and asked herself. The answer, however, was plainly obvious.

There was nothing she _could_ do! The girl was practically trapped within the confines of Sakura's body and the crowded train car, and there was still a fair distance left from their destination. But then again, now that she thought about it, wasn't the situation she was in a good thing? Thinking from an outside perspective, it looked like Sakura was hugging her. To them, she and Hinata looked to be a couple, Sakura simply protecting her girlfriend from being crushed. Just that simple thought made a small smile appear on her lips and almost too quickly, a selfish thought came to her.

She placed her head on the flat of Sakura's chest, just under her collarbone, and closed her eyes. Hinata listened to the sound of her heartbeat, which continued to go at a steady rhythm. The pinkette wasn't at all fazed about the actions the ravenette was doing, which made her happy and disappointed at the same time. But that disappointment flew out the window when she suddenly felt the arm wrapped around her, bring her closer to the pinkette's body. Again, she knew that Sakura was only doing this out of friendship, making sure would get crushed, but Hinata couldn't help but be happy about it.

That was when an announcement decided to make it's way over the train's intercom, ruining her little moment, and not a moment sooner did the it finish, that she felt the train slow down, until it eventually stopped. When the doors opened, Sakura released her hold on her, Hinata was already missing the warmth of the girl's body, and she and Sakura walked out the car, a trail of people behind them.

Making their way through the station, making sure not to bump into anyone coming and going, the both of their hands sort out the other's, connecting together. They headed for the stairs that lead out to the street, hand in hand, towards the place she and Sakura would be spending their entire day at.

* * *

Finally, the girls had reached their destination. Konohagakure's Amusement Park. Not only was it the largest resorts in Japan, it also housed one of the biggest Ferris wheels ever made. inata had heard rumors that you could actually see the entire city from the top, and was a very romantic sight to see. That was her objective. She would confess her feelings there. Hinata was determined to make that the last ride they would go on, but before all that, it was time to have some fun.

With that thought, Sakura and Hinata made their way to the entrance, paid the fee of admission and went in. She couldn't help the gasp the escape past her lips as she saw the interior. The outside view was huge, but the inside was much bigger. Much like that British show, about a Time Lord if Hinata remember correctly; bigger on the inside. Like the crowded train car, the place was packed full of people, ranging from families watching their children have fun of the littler rides, couples taking a stroll, hand in hand. Or just friends hanging out with one another, having a merry time.

Hinata turned her gaze from the people to the girl by her side. She was surprised to see that she had a far away look on her face. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked, but then a thought popped into her head. _Is this her first time at an amusement park?_

The pinkette nodded slowly. "I'm fine," she replied. She blinked once, twice before her one, emerald eyed gaze looked at her. "It's just that I've never been to a place like this before." She turned back to the crowd. "There's a lot of people here. I guess I was surprised."

That wasn't just it. There was more than the demon girl was letting on. But for now Hinata decided to no go further into it. Sakura, however, was right, there where a lot of people. But that was to be expected, it was after all the last day of summer. It was the last day of freedom for the younger kids before they put their noses back into the books. Also by the looks of things, some of the people had come much earlier than them, most likely wanting to enjoy some of the rides before more people showed up.

 _Speaking of rides._ "Where would you like to go first?" Hinata asked, looking back at her friend.

"It's your choice," she told her. "You've been to parks before right? So you'll know what's enjoyable."

Again, what Sakura said was the truth. Hinata had been to an amusement park or two, with Tenten and some other friends from school, in other places in Japan. However, there is a huge difference between going with friends and going with someone that you were crushing on! Plus, Hinata's never been able to come here. The place was popular and thus, really expensive. Thankfully she had started saving up ever since she took the job at the Sannin Café.

Sakura was completely oblivious to this, but Hinata was now under pressure. Trying not to show it on her face, she began to think for a moment. The girl soon came to the conclusion that it would be best to start off slow and small, something to break her in with. Thinking that, Hinata looked around her surroundings. The big rides were an obvious no go for now, so maybe the small rides was a place to start?

"Waaahhhh! Waaahhhh!"

The sound of a child crying broke the ravenette's train of thought, and she, as well as Sakura, turned to look. Underneath a large tree, there was a little boy balling his eyes out and a woman, most likely his mother, was trying to calm him down. Hinata's maternal instinct kicked in, and she found herself walking towards the mother and son, Sakura following her lead.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Hinata heard the mother trying to sooth the boy. "We'll just get you another one." That just made the kid cry harder, and some of the people started to give them looks, some of them not nice ones. What gave people the right to look at a mother and child like they where an annoyance? Frankly, it just pissed Hinata off.

"Umm, excuse me?" she called out to them. The boy was still crying but the mother looked up at Hinata with an apologetic expression.

"I'm very sorry," she said, bowing her head, which left a bad taste in the Hyūga's mouth. It hurt to see someone like that when there was nothing they could do, something that was only natural and out of their control. "I'll get him to be quiet in just a second."

Hinata waved her hands, smiling. "There's no need to apologize, it's not you're fault," she said, crouching down so she was eye level with the mother. "I'm just wondering what's wrong?"

"I see, thank you," she said, relief spreading throughout her features. "You see, it's about my son's balloon."

"Balloon?" she and Sakura said in unison. The woman gave a nod before her gaze turned upward and Hinata followed her line of sight. There it was, a red balloon stuck on one of the branches by it's string.

"My son let it go by accident," the mother explained, "and it's string got caught on the branch. I've told him we'd get a new one, but he wants the one that he had back." Gazing back at the woman, she noticed that she was quiet thin, frail even, so she obviously didn't have the strength to go after the balloon. Plus she was wearing a skirt, and she was already being stared at by some people, so Hinata didn't want them to give them anymore reason to do so.

The raventte could have climbed the tree, but she was also wearing a skirt, and the last thing she wanted to do was flash her underwear to people. The only realistic option then was to get a member of staff here to help out.

"Little boy," again her train of thought was cut off, this time by Sakura's voice. The pinkette crouched down next to the ravenette, her gaze on the boy. The boy stared at the demon girl with tearful eyes, sniffing. "What's your name?"

He then turned to his mother, most likely wondering if it was okay to let a stranger know his name. When she gave the nod of approval, Hinata was relieved to know that she trusted them. "Daisuke," he told us.

"Daisuke," Sakura repeated. "Okay, Daisuke, I want you to close your eyes for me."

The boy called Daisuke let out a surprised noise. "Why?"

"Because, I'm about to do magic trick. When I tell you to open them again, you're going to have your balloon back. So you have to trust me, okay?" she said, smiling a gentle smile at the end which made Hinata's chest swell with pride. This girl, who used to be cold and didn't think too much of herself, had come along way within the month that she knew her. It made the girl love her even more, to see her interact with the people that she didn't want anything to do with, and made Hinata the more eager to confess to her, to proudly say that this girl was her girlfriend.

With a nod, the boy did what was asked of him, and Sakura got to work. Making her way to the trunk of the tree, Sakura took two steps back. Then taking those same steps forward in a run, the pinkette's right foot hit the base of the tree and jumped off, using a bit of her demonic strength. She grasped a thick branch that held her weight and swung herself around it until she managed to plant her feet on it. The balloon was just above her, and reaching out, Sakura snagged it off the branch the string was stuck on. Finally, she easily dropped down next to me and immediately crouched in the exact same position, like she had never left in the first place. Like magic.

Which was the idea.

"Okay, Daisuke, you can open them."

When the boy followed Sakura's command and saw the balloon in her possession, the boy let out a squeal of delight. But the pinkette wasn't done. She grasped the boy's left arm, the child looking on in wonder, and tied the ball of air around his wrist. "There, now it won't escape." The smile on the boy's face was priceless and in gratitude, the boy suddenly launched himself on Sakura, his small arms wrapping around her neck. The girl's one eye grew wide in surprise but grew even more when the boy said; "Thank you magic lady!"

"You-You're welcome," Sakura stuttered, still stunned from the hug. With a final thank you from the boy's mother, and the child himself, the duo walked away, leaving Sakura and Hinata standing next to the tree, waving goodbye at them. When the family of two were gone from sight, the white eyed girl turned her attention to the pinkette. "Shall we go, Sakura-chan?"

With her emerald gaze now on her, she gave a nod and a small smile and then finally their day of fun had finally begun.

* * *

It was now lunch time, and so far she and Sakura had been enjoying themselves. Like she had thought before, the pair started off small. The first thing they went to were the carnival-like activities, starting with the High Striker. They had watched men and women alike attempt to hit the bell with the pluck, using a two-handed mallet. It was good to watch, for a while. But that was when they noticed that when it came to someone physically capable of hitting the bell, it fell flat.

They soon realized that it was rigged. Thankfully the rigging didn't last long as Sakura had stepped up to the plate, grasped the mallet from the con-man with a single handed grip. Everyone was surprised (they had every right to be) has the girl lifted the mallet with ease, smacked it against the target, the sound of something snapping inside the machine echoed, and the pluck was sent sailing up, hitting the bell with solid ding. Once she was finished, she had said out loud, "It's fixed" and she and Hinata walked away.

The con-man, however, didn't. Meaning he had to deal with a lot of angry customers.

After that incident, they didn't go near another carnival-like place and decided to go for the small rides next. The tea cups where the first thing they went on, and the first find out that Sakura got dizzy easily. When the ride was finished, the pinkette had to hold on to a nearby railing, and cover her eyes with her hand. Turned out when she ever spun around fighting demons, the girl never thought about it, the monster being her target. Take that part of the equation out, and you're left with a very disorientated Haruno Sakura.

The next was a merry-go-round, which left Hinata red faced at the end of it. As soon as she had gotten on her horse, the girl immediately felt body heat behind her before arms enclosed around her body, hands grasping the pole. Hinata turned her head, white pools meeting emerald, and she blushed profusely. For that entire ride, her heart had pounded a lot harder than it should have, and before she knew it, and thankful for it, it was over. But it took about half an hour for her heart to beat a normal beat, let alone look the pinkette in the eye again.

After a couple more small rides, the pair of them decided to have a little lunch break before going on the the main rides. Which was where they were now. Hinata was sitting on a bench as she watched Sakura, who had offered, go over to a burger stand and wait in line. Again her heart swelled at how much progress the girl had made since a month ago. But that changed when she felt another's presence on her right. When she turned and looked, there was a boy who seemed to be the same age, maybe even a year older, than her sitting there with a charming smile, showing his white teeth.

"Hey babe, how's it hanging?" he asked, his arm resting on the bench's back, behind her.

"It-It's going fine," she replied nervously, stuttering. Hinata shifted slightly away from the unknown boy. His smile was nice but something felt off. Just as she shifted, however, the girl felt another person sit on the other side of her. This boy looked to be the same age as the first, his smile was unlike the first's though. It had more meaning behind it. Hinata's bad feeling was starting to act up and she knew she had to get out of this situation. As she tried to excuse herself politely, hoping to move to Sakura were it was safer, another person stood in front of her. This time the smile on this man's face was completely open to it's content; lecherous.

"What's the rush?" the man questioned. "We just want to talk to you."

"I'm sorry," Hinata apologized out of courtesy. "But my friend will be back soon."

"Oh, you mean the pink haired girl with the eye patch? You two seemed pretty close," the second boy spoke up, and her eyes widened. Had these guys been following her and Sakura? The pinkette must have let her guard down quite a bit around Hinata, if she wasn't even able to sense their presence. "You know, we can show you what's missing from you two. And you might like it. Not the pink hair though, she looks like damaged goods."

Hinata's anger spiked up at those words, glaring at the man in front of her. These bastards didn't know Sakura one bit and what she was capable of. If they knew that she could wield a scythe half the size of her, and with one hand, fighting demons, they would change their tone in a second. Also, the girl was beautiful inside and out, these guys didn't know what they were talking about.

The third man spoke up. "Say, why don't us four get out of here?" he suggested, which made Hinata want to vomit. She really needed to get out of here but all her exits where blocked. And she wasn't Sakura or Ino. Hinata couldn't just threaten them like Ino, or hurt them like Sakura could. She needed to think of something, but before she could the lecherous man continued. "This place is too family friendly, and we could find some place quiet to go to."

He reached a hand out, butHinta moved away just as the tips of his fingers grazed her cheek. But she couldn't do much for the other two. The girl felt a finger touch the base of her neck from the boy with the charming smile and the second began to rub her left arm, making her shiver. But thankfully, like always, Sakura was there to help. The man that had been in front of the white eyed girl had suddenly disappeared, thrown backwards and was replaced by the pinkette, holding two burgers, one in each hand. The hands that had been creeping on me had vanished and the two other guys went to their fallen friend.

"Here you go, Hinata," said Sakura, handing her one of the burgers. She took it, staring at her in amazement. She didn't even so much as look at the person she had just thrown to the ground. Then again, he didn't deserve it.

"You bitch," a snarl came behind the pinkette, her emerald eye now seeing the man behind her with the corner of her eye.

"What is it?" the girl replied, not at all fazed by the glare the man was now giving her. She has faced worst.

"'What is it?'" he repeated, getting even more angry. "You just threw me just now!"

"You where in my way, so I moved you. Also, you were making someone important to me uncomfortable."

"You whore," again he growled, clenching his fist tightly. Just before he could do or say anything more, the boy with the charming smile told him to stop. "Why?!" he asked.

"We're being watched," was what he said. Hinata then realized that a few people were now watching the scene with interest, and looked like a security guard from the park was watching with an eagle eye. The man clicked his tongue in annoyance, promising that the two girls would pay for embarrassing him and then walked away, stomping.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she was now safe. "Are you alright, Hinata?" she asked her, concern tinging her voice.

The ravenette was surprisingly. Something that she don't even want to think about was going to happen to her and gods knows what else. But with Sakura now with her, everything seemed much better. "I'm fine," she told her.

She stared at Hinata for a second longer before she took her answer and sat next to her. Now, she really couldn't wait to tell the amazing girl next to her how she felt about her. That was her thought as she and Sakura shared their nice little lunch together.

* * *

It was finally time. After spending time on the bigger rides, mostly roller coasters (Sakura seemed to enjoy the thrill of going at a high speed), grabbing souvenirs for Sakura and herself, Tenten and Ino as well, darkness began to descend Konoha's amusement park. The two girls where now in front of the one place were Hinata wanted things to end tonight. The Ferris wheel. Stepping into one of the cars, the doors closed behind them, it began to move.

They sat side by side, their shoulders so close to one another that they were practically touching and what she saw next made her smile, stand up and walk to the window. In front of her was Konoha at it's most beautiful. The lights of the city sparkled brightly, like christmas lights. Seeing the place like this, you wouldn't even begin to think that there was bad in the world. That there was no demons, no hunters. Just peace.

"It's beautiful," Sakura said, moving next to Hinata and staring at the nice view. She nodded and hummed in agreement. "Hinata," the pinkette started, "I need to tell you something." The girl turned her head from the best view of the city to see the best thing that her eyes ever saw. "I lied when I said that I've never been to an amusement park before." That was something the girl wasn't expecting. But she remained quiet in her surprise. The girl was opening up more to Hinata so she wasn't going to interrupt, wanting to know every word that she was going to say.

"I came here one time, to this exact amusement park, with Yukiko," she told her, Hinata's chest tightening on itself from jealousy of hearing that name. She hated herself for though. Yamanaka Yukiko, which Hinata found out was Ino's big sister, was the one person that accepted Sakura for who she really was and was an important person to the girl. What gave Hinata the right to be jealous of a person like that? Answer: it didn't.

"For the first time in coming to your world, I was actually happy," Sakura continued, smiling like she have never seen before. A smile that was only meant for Yukiko. "And funnily enough, we ended on a Ferris wheel as well, watching the city lights dancing through the darkness. But the same day that we went on that trip was the same day she died. It's a happy and sad moment at the same time."

"Sakura-chan," she whispered, her heart clenching. Hinata took her hand and gave it a squeeze, telling her that she was there for her, supporting her.

"I know that I should let it go. Move forward and let her rest. And I hope someday I can," said Sakura. "But even though I can't move on yet, I can now finally take one step at a time-" Sakura turned her gaze on the Hyūga girl, her emerald eye gentle, "-thanks to you, Hinata." She squeezed her hand at that point. "Because you were there for me, when no one else wanted to, even me. Now, I'm glad you persisted. So once again, Hyūga Hinata, thank you."

This was it, the moment that Hinata had been waiting for. The girl had confessed what had obviously been bothering her since she came here and it was her turn to do the same. So, taking in a deep breath, calming the nerves that had begun to fester, she opened her mouth calling the girl's name. "Sakura-chan," she said. "There's also something I've got t-" before she could get more in edge wise, the car they were occupying suddenly stopped, causing Hinata to fall forwards. She landed on Sakura's chest and the pinkette held on to her with strong hands, making sure she didn't hit the floor and kept herself steady.

"Are you alright, Hinata?"

"Yes," she replied, looking up. And she nearly forgot how to breath. Her face was just a few inches away from Sakura's, like on the train and the merry-go-round, and Hinata just stared, lost in a sea of green. _I want to see more_ she thought, reaching out for the taller girl's eye-patch that hid her demonic eye. Removing the piece of light material, Hinata was now greeted with pools of green and yellow. She didn't know when it happened, but the girl's sclera that had been black in the nurse's office, had returned to white.

The ravenette's white gaze went from looking into green and yellow orbs, to Sakura's pink lips, and then back again. Her heart had begun to thud loud and heavily in her chest as she slowly, oh so slowly, inched her head forward. "Hi...na...ta..." Sakura whispered, just watching as my face moved closer and closer.

"Sakura-ch-"

 _BOOOOOOOOOM!_

Fates seemed to have intervened as bright light lit up the sky, before ending in a crackle. Sakura and Hinata turned their gazes back outside, just in time to hear another sound of whistling, before an explosion let loose more bright sparkles. "Fireworks," Hinata said, as more suddenly burst through the sky.

"It's pretty," Sakura had said, and that was when she knew that the moment for her confession, or acting on it, had now passed, fizzed out like the fireworks. Smiling sadly, she stared back at the nice display, nodding to Sakura's words.

Once the fireworks had finished, the car began to move again and soon the girls where back on ground level. As Hinata exited the car, the wind's breeze gave her a chill, wrapping her arms around herself to gain warmth but to no avail. She suddenly felt something wrapped around her shoulders and realized that it was Sakura's jacket, leaving the pinkette in only her white blouse. Hinata protested, saying that she was going to get cold, but Sakura had none of it, saying that she didn't feel the cold much anyway. She instantly felt warm. Not just because of the jacket made me feel warm but she felt it on the inside also. That was when Hinata knew then even though that her confession ended in disaster, it wasn't the end.

Like Sakura, someday she would be able to her her feelings for her. There was no need to rush. She had all the time in the world.

* * *

When they finally got home, the pair of girls where standing in front of Hinata's room. "Thank you for the jacket, Sakura-chan," she said, handing back the article of clothing. "And thank you for today, I had a great time."

"Same here," she told me. "See you in the morning." Jacket in hand, Sakura made her way towards her own bedroom, grabbing the handle of the door, and opening the door.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata cried out her name, said girl stopping mid way. She turned back to her, waiting, and before she lost her nerve completely Hinata made her way to Sakura, brought her face close to her's and kissed her on the cheek. She let it linger for a moment before moving away, not gauging pinkette's reaction. With a blush coating her cheeks, she said another good night and headed straight into her room, shutting the door behind herself.

The girl slept smiling that night with pleasant memories.

* * *

Sakura stared at Hinata's door in bewilderment, her brain trying to catch up. She touched the cheek that she had been kissed with her fingertips and realized that it was still warm from her lips. An unknown feeling began to form in her chest, her stomach and her heart. _What's wrong with me?_ she thought to herself, feeling her cheeks burn themselves into a blush.

This was a first time that she's ever felt something like this. And for the rest of the night, she felt confused about those feelings that had suddenly taking over.

* * *

She walked slowly, for how long, she didn't know, on the concrete path of a place that she didn't know. The stench of the labratory was etched into her skin, no matter how long she'd had been outside for. Her sky blue eyes, that were void of any light, looked straight on, her long blonde hair falling down like a curtain on her back. The brown ragged dress she wore was the only thing she had on her back while she managed to escape that rotten place, of that rotten man. She could still feel the poking and prodding of the needles, putting things inside her and taking blood out. The girl wanted to tear her arms off because they were that itchy. She felt hollow on the inside but at the same time felt heavy. How was that possible?

 _Why am I even alive?_ she thought to herself. That was a stupid question of course. The blonde knew why she was alive, the amount of times that she had to repeat over and over again on the reason she was created. But she had another reason to live however. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember what it was. She couldn't remember a lot of things. The only thing she can recall was the name that they, those scientist bastards, had given her.

"Damn that pink haired bitch," the girl could hear a distant voice, laced in venom. Further ahead, she saw three individuals walking towards her, but didn't notice her presence. Not yet anyway. "Making a fool out of me." The three individuals were all male, and looked to be a lot older than her. Then again, she couldn't even remember her own age. The man with anger continued his rant. "The next time I see her, I'm going to wring her neck."

"Chill out man," one of the other's spoke. "That was just one chick. There are plenty dumb ones out there ready for a good fucking!"

"He's right you know," the third one said, smiling a smile with all his teeth showing. "Besides, you never know, we might run into that girl we going after before."

The man that had complained chuckled under his breath. "Heh, you maybe right," he said, and then looked in front of him, his gaze meeting hers and stopped, making is friends also. The girl however didn't and kept walking. She was about to make it through the gang of three, until a hand was pressed against her shoulder, forcing her to stop. Her blue void eyes, looked up. "Hey girly, do you know that it's dangerous to come out this late at night." The hand on her shoulder started to moved up the girl's neck before resting on her cheek. "Especially for a cutie like you."

The blonde girl just stared at the him, the feeling of his hand on her cheek was uncomfortable on his skin, and the girl had a sudden urge to tear his arm from his shoulder. But when she suddenly felt the back of her dress being tugged, the urge dissipated. From the corner of her eye, one of the other boys was peeking down her clothing. "Oi, oi man. This chick isn't wearing anything underneath. No bra, no panties, nothing!" There was excitement in his voice as he said those words, she could practically see and hear the lust.

"Is that right?" the one in front said, then, making sure no one was around, made the girl go down an nearby alleyway. Once they were all alone, the three men surrounded her. "Okay," he continued. "How about we take off this dress and see what goes from there?" The man reached out a hamnd toward the strap of her dress. The urge from before came back tenfold, and her eyes suddenly changed, from void blue to blood red with cat-like irises. The next thing that everyone heard was a horrible sound of bone braking, echoing loudly in the alley. all three of them stared wide eyed as he slowly pulled his hand back, and watch in terror as his appendage was completely dislocated from the bone, hanging off limply.

He didn't scream, just looked it with a horrific face, before kneeling to the ground. After that, the girl grabbed his head, and with another horrible sound, the blonde twisted the man's head, his neck snapping as it turned a hundred and eighty degree angle. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

"You... You killed him," blood red eyes turned to guy on her left. He glared at her, pulling out a pocket knife from his jean's pocket. "You little whore!" he cried as he lunged at the girl, she herself turning to face her attacker. He swung down the weapon, and the blonde let him, stabbing her in the chest, near her heart. However, the little victory he had at that moment was wiped away as she grasped the offending wrist and pushed it slowly away, the knife following. Once it was out, steam began to seep out of the wound and closed on itself. The boy made the same face his friend did, not believing what he was seeing.

Bending his wrist slightly, the knife fell from his hand, and the girl grabbed it as it was falling. She then proceeded to stab him, multiple times, blood gushing out from the wound created and his mouth. He also fell to his knees, and finishing him off, the girl thrust the knife underneath his chin, the cold metal knife impaling through his mouth. She side stepped and watched with indifferent eyes as he hit the ground dead. That left with only one.

The girl walked up to him slowly, the boy stood dead still, afraid. Warm liquid began to soak the man's pants, that charming smile replaced with a quivering mess. "W-W-Who are you?"

"Who am I?" she repeated the question, unnoticed to the boy that the girl's nails began to grow long and sharper. "I'm..." she began, then with her new sharpened nails, swiped at the boy's throat, blood spraying out instantly. He made a gurgling noise, choking on his own blood, as reached up to his throat, making a futile attempt to keep the blood from rushing out. But it was already too late. He too fell to his knees, looking up at the girl with tears in his eyes. The light in his orbs soon faded away and he hit the floor like the two before him.

"...Kyūbi."

With that parting word, the girl walked away from the carnage she had made, wandering lost in a city that she didn't know the name of.

* * *

 **There you have it, another chapter done and dusted. The little beach bit I put in was originally going to be a chapter of itself but I decided against. And with that huge hint at the end, I can guess that you already know who that is. So it now comes to the news that I had mentioned at the start.**

 **Like I had said, I struggled with this chapter and writing in general. The amount of times I written something only to delete it after was a lot, and I mean A LOT. I've been writing other things, like my one-shot Supergirl fic "New Years Eve Surprise and began the first chapter of my Batman AU "The Dark Knight: Batwoman.**

 **I hoped that writing on other stories would help out and it did, but only a bit.**

 **Which is why I'm going to put this story on another hiatus. I'm sorry for that but if I don't take a break from this story, I'm going to burn out on it (and I almost had too) and that is something that I really don't want to do.**

 **I've seen how many like this story, which again I thank you for, and the last thing I want to do is disappoint you all (though from the way this chapter went I probably already have), and stop this story all together.**

 **So yeah, Demonic Love will be on a short hiatus and within that time, I can start writing up the next arc and maybe do a couple of one-shots of other stories.**

 **So anyway** **, thanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **Also if there is anything you would like to see, one-shot wise, then PM me let me know. If you do try to go for things that I have written and read, like Naruto, RWBY etc.**

 **Hopefully** **, I'll see ya in the next arc!**


	31. The Blonde Girl In Ragged Clothes

**Hey guys, Yuri here, and I have brought another chapter of Demonic Love for you all!**

 **At last, we are now onto the second to last arc of my story and I have to admit that this chapter was a lot easier to write than the last, so the hiatus wasn't that long at least (if you can even call it that). Also I would like to point out that I had the help of Naruto Wiki with a few descriptions so that credit goes to those amazing people that created it.**

 **So, shall we get on with it.**

 **Like always,** **I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Is this... the end of the world?_

Hinata watched the creature in front of her with terrified eyes. The body of a girl that used to have skin had been corroded away, and stained the shroud housing her with her own blood, the six tails moving this way and that. The monster in front of her was inside a large crater that it had formed, it's white, bowl shaped eyes staring at the ravenette, a growl escaping the jagged white which had to have been it's mouth.

The city of Konohagakure laid in ruin, the girl's friends, as well as the civilians of the city, were on the ground, either unconscious or dead. A wicked chuckled echoed through Hinata's ears, her eyes moving past the thing in front of her and training on the man with long black hair, very pale skin and snake eyes. It was a mistake looking into those eyes. It made her body seize up, and kept her rooted on the spot.

"Now then," the man spoke, raising his arm slowly until his thin finger point directly on the Hyūga girl. "Kill her."

Hearing his command, the creature slowly went on all fours, like a fox, and was getting ready to pounce. Hinata's legs began to quiver, her heart beating loud and clear in her ears. The moment it lunged itself at the girl, everything went by in slow motion. The white jagged mouth grew wider as it roared, extending it's dark crimson, clawed hands ready to tear her apart.

And unfortunately, Sakura wasn't going to save her this time.

After all... she wasn't here.

 _Sakura-chan..._

* * *

 _...A few days earlier..._

Hidden way deep in the Demon Forest, the Demon Lord Sasuke traveled to the laboratory that his head scientist, Orochimaru, had built. Sasuke had seen heavy, black smoke coming from within here and since he was extremely bored, because the pinkette hadn't done anything lately, he decided to come an investigate. As he walked through the trees, the king of all demons could sense his own kind, the wild ones, everywhere in the forest, but it seemed none dared to try and attack him. Well, almost none. A demon suddenly appeared from within a bush, it's teeth bared and brought back into a snarl as it growled at the man. He didn't even take a glance at it, the creature not worth his time, and carried on making his way.

But the demon didn't like that. The monster lunged itself at Sasuke, whatever brain it contained not knowing the immediate threat that he was. Without batting an eye, flinching or doing anything else other than making his way to his objective, the demon that was now close to the Demon Lord vanished into mist, the fight that it had readied for, finished in a second.

Now he normally doesn't get surprised by anything, but when he saw the massive tree, that lead into the facility, have a huge gaping hole coming out from it, his interest piqued a little. There where massive wood chippings outside the tree, so whatever caused the explosion had come from the inside. Venturing further in, Sasuke noticed bodies in the dimly lit hallway, a lot of them, demon and human slave scientists, loitered it's floor and blood splatter covered the walls and ceiling. Continuing on, the Demon Lord soon came upon the main part of the facility. A wide open space, tanks that would normally suspend people in liquid where all shattered, the ones that had occupants on the floor, unmoving. Demons and human slaves alike where in the process of clearing up the mess and when they noticed that he had entered, they all looked down, daring not to meet his eye and carried on, albeit more nervous than before.

"P-Please, sir, forgive me!"

A terrified voice brought Sasuke's attention to what was in front of him. Further down, stood two people, one being the man himself, Orochimaru and his assistant, Kabuto if the man recalled, and they towering over to other individual demons with lab coats.

"So tell me," Orochimaru spoke, his creepy smile not leaving his face, but his eyes showed something different; anger. The king of all demons had to admit that he loved seeing the man with snake eyes angry. It was very humorous indeed. "Out of all the people that had died here, you two where the only people had been left to live?"

"W-We can e-explain!" one of the demons shouted, sweating bullets. Without saying anything, the man named Kabuto walked behind the two demons kneeling on the floor, but they were too focused on the head scientist to notice, too afraid to tear their gazes away.

"I know that girl, and from the carnage here, she wouldn't have hesitated to kill you were you stood," Orochimaru continued. "So my only guess, is that you two hid somewhere, too afraid to do anything. Which is understandable." The two demon looked a little relieved about those words, but coming from him that meant a death sentence, which was happening right now.

The man behind the two scientists knelt down, conjured up two needle shapes infused with demonic energy and impaled them into the back of both demon's necks. Their eyes widened with horror as both fell limp to the ground. They weren't dead however, Sasuke could still sense their weak energy levels, but they had been paralyzed.

"I like to give my thanks gentlemen," said Orochimaru, "you have volunteered yourselves to be part if my next experimentation." With the snap of his fingers, two other demons went to the head scientists side, and with a motion of his head, they picked up the two bodies and left, Sasuke practically hearing the silent screams of those two soon-to-be dead demons.

"Orochimaru," Sasuke called out, the man himself turning his head slightly to meet gazes. The pale man smiled at him, but the Demon Lord didn't miss the look of irritation.

"Ahh, Sasuke-kun," the man said casually. Again, this man was the only one that spoke to him in such a way. "What do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"

"I was hoping you would tell me," Sasuke said, moving closer to the pale skinned man. "There's a giant hole at the entrance, that looked like it had come from the inside and smoke flying out from within it. Care to explain, Orochimaru?"

"A small side project," was his answer. "It seems that she fled here, and left for the land of the humans. But I'll be getting her back soon enough."

A small side project? That was it? Really, the king of all demons should force the information out of him. Sasuke, however, closed his eyes. _Hmph, it doesn't matter._ As long as his 'project' didn't get in the way of his plans, which would be happening very soon, Orochimaru could do whatever the hell he wanted. But...

"See that you do, Orochimaru," said Sasuke, "because you will be leaving the Demon Realm, and until you find that pet project of yours, you are forbidden from coming back." With that, Sasuke turned on his heel and started to walk away. As he left, he found this situation amusing. This pet project of Orochimaru's was able to get by the Demon Lord without detection, and escape this place.

The dead bodies of demons guarding the portal that lead to Human Realm was the sight Sasuke was met with and he couldn't help the smile on his face as he made his way to back towards the castle.

 _This will be interesting._

* * *

"What shall you do, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked his master, when the Demon Lord was no longer in his presence.

"We shall do what he says, and go after my little pet," Orochimaru told him. His snake eyes met the black orbs of Kabuto. "Go and fetch the Kaguya boy. We're going to need his help."

"Of course. And then?"

His smile widened impossibly long. "Then," he continued, "we'll kill Haruno Sakura, before the killing king himself."

* * *

"Haaaaah! I wish summer wasn't over," Tenten complained, looking up toward the cloudless blue sky.

"Tenten, you've been saying that for the past week," Ino growled, a tick forming on her forehead, the chopsticks in her hands slowly get crushed together between her fingers.

The blonde was right. It had been a little over a week since summer vacation came to an end and everyday since then, the four of them, Hinata, the scythe wielder, the ravenette's childhood friend and the huntress, had been eating lunch together on the school's rooftop. And everyday, Tenten had been saying the same thing over and over. And that's what was happening today, continuing the trend. The brunette directed her gaze to the blonde by her side and glared at her.

"Shut it," she said, "I spent almost half of my summer in school, and another some of it doing homework, so I have every right to complain."

"And whose fault was that? Oh right, that was your's," the huntress retorted. "Had you concentrated more on your studying and finished your homework earlier, you'd would have had that summer," she told the naginata student, going back to eating. But the brunette wouldn't let her off that easily it seemed. Looking annoyed, the brunette's grey gaze turned to the bento that Ino had in her lap and with her own chopsticks, took one of the items that the blonde had been about to pick up, popping it into her mouth with satisfaction.

"Wha-?!" Ino stared in horror and then turned her head to give Tenten her death glare, her teeth grounded. "What the hell, I was going to eat that!"

The brunette swallowed. "You snooze, you lose." Two could play at that game. "You need to be fast-" Tenten was cut short when the blonde suddenly leaned closer and with quick reflexes grabbed a few things from her friends bento box and placed it in her own. Like the blonde, Tenten took on the same expression. "What the hell! I was saving those for last!"

"You snooze, you lose," Ino repeated, a smug smile appearing on her face. The two girls then began to stare at one another, and Hinata could have sworn that she saw lightning spark between the two of them. The ravenette smiled at her two friends. They had become very close in a short amount of time and it seemed something had happened during summer break, but neither talked about it. But whatever it was, Hinata didn't mind not knowing, so long as she saw her friends grow closer, that was all that mattered. Thinking that, the ravenette turned her sights on the girl sitting next to her.

Sakura was eating her packed lunch, that Hinata had made early this morning, with vacant look. It was similar look she had seen when she and the pinkette went to the amusement park. The demon girl had been acting a little differently since there little trip, but Hinata never asked her what was wrong. She knew that if Sakura wanted to talk about it, she would. Just like when she opened up a bit more about Yukiko. So Hinata would gladly wait. So returning her gaze back to the brunette and blonde, she saw that they were still glaring at each other.

Thinking that it was best to cut in before they accidentally killed one another, Hinata giggled at them. "You two are so close aren't you?"

That remark got their attention, the both of them screaming out, "We're not!" before they looked at one another again. They immediately blushed when they both realized that they were in fact very close to one another that they separated instantly. And just like that, it was another normal school day.

* * *

With school finally finished, Tenten left for her club, but not before telling Sakura that she would have to make an appearance again at the gym sometime soon. Apparently, seeing the girl twice in action, the pinkette had gotten herself a fan club. Hinata didn't know what to feel about that. It was nice that the demon girl was now getting recognized, even the girls in class started to get really friendly with her, but it didn't sit well that she was becoming less special. The girl shook her head, her jealousy getting the better of her _again_ , and chastised herself. No matter how much she wanted it, Sakura wasn't her's, so she had no right to think those things.

After that, the duo made their way towards the shoe lockers and noticed that Ino was still there getting her shoes on. Making their presence known, Hinata asked her if she wanted to go home together, the blonde, not seeing the downside, accepted the invitation. When they got to Ino's home, Saginomiya Flowers, they were met with a kind old lady, the one who owned the store and let the blonde stay, named Saginomiya Shiori. The way the woman treated Ino, like she was her own granddaughter, made the huntress blush, even stuttering when she nearly forgot to call her by 'Obā-chan' instead of her last name.

Declining tea that the woman offered, Hinata and Sakura left old lady Saginomiya and a blushing Ino behind, heading for their own home. Considering that there was a lot of traffic and people were talking around them, it was quietly peaceful. It had been quite awhile since a demon had made an appearance, and Hinata hoped that it would continue, but the girl knew that nothing was ever that easy, especially dealing with demons.

 _Forget about that, Hinata_ she thought to herself. Now wasn't the time to think of unpleasant things. Right now, she was alone with Sakura, and as someone said, 'you never know what's around the corner'. So with that logic, Hinata decided to speak up. "So, Sakura-chan," she called out, breaking the silence between them. "Is there anything you would like for dinner tonight?"

"Anything's fine," she said, looking at Hinata. "What ever you make is good regardless." Hinata's eyes widened before she tore her gaze away, a blush coating her cheeks from the complement. And also now she knew the girl was in a better mood than she was at lunch. Just as the ravenette was going to suggest a dish, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye.

Across the street, someone was running through the crowds of people, bumping into them, causing some to fall to the ground, and without apologizing, continued to run. It was a young girl with blonde hair, a few shades dark than Ino's, that went up to her lower back, and she wore what looked to be a ragged brown dress, which looked dirty than anything she ever saw. "Sakura-chan," the ravenette stopped walking, the pinkette following suit. "That girl over there," she said pointing at the running blonde.

"Girl?" Sakura repeated, following the ravenette's finger until she herself saw the girl. "What about her?"

"I don't know," she replied. "But looks like she's running away from something." She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling. Without saying anything, and thankfully that the near by traffic lights had turned red, Hinata bolted straight after the girl. Sakura cried out Hinata's name but she didn't listen, her only focus on the girl that was on the run. She was fast, but luckily enough, Hinata was able to keep her in her line of sight and she was soon lead to what the civilians of Konoha dubbed as the 'Forest of Death'. This was also the place where Tenten had been attacked by the white skinned fiend, and the ravenette had gotten hurt.

Did she go in here? she asked herself, panting as if she just done a marathon. "Hinata!" Sakura cried, running up next to me. "Why did you suddenly run off like that?"

"The... girl.." Hinata breathed.

"The girl from before? She's in here?"

The ravenette finally got her breathing under control and stood up straight. "I think so," she said, staring into the darkness of the trees. The sun was slowly starting to set, making the forest grow even more dark. Clearing her throat, ignoring that the forest looked a bit creepy in all it's glory, the Hyūga girl took a step forward- "Let's go." - and the pair went into the forest. But as they walked through the dense trees, a thought came to Hinata's mind. If she found the girl, what would she do then? Before she could think more, a hand, that belonged to Sakura, stopped her where she was. "Sakura-chan?" she called in a questioning tone. She looked to her friend and saw that she had her eye closed.

After a couple of seconds in silence, the pinkette opened her one sea of emerald and began walking a specific direction. Hinata stayed quiet as she followed the demon girl, wondering where she was taking them. But then she realized. Faintly, she could hear the sound of labored breathing. It was coming from one of the many trees that were couple or more feet away from them, but Sakura lead the way, no doubt thanks to her enhanced hearing. Because of it, they were able to find the girl that Hinata had been looking for. She had her back to the tree she was resting on, and almost looked to be calm. Or _was_ calming down. Unfortunately Hinata stepped on a twig that was loud enough to warn the blonde girl of duo's presence.

When the girl's blue eyes (the ravenette saw that the girl also had three whisker markings on both cheeks) stared at the two girls, she jumped up, and started to back away slowly. "W-Wait," Hinata called out to her, knowing that with those shocked eyes of hers, the girl was about to run away. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to talk." But the girl didn't care either way if Hinata talked or not. The blonde girl in ragged clothing took a few more steps back and then started to run again. Thankfully Sakura thought ahead. Using her demonic speed, the pink haired girl flitted in front of the escapee.

The blonde let out a yelp of surprise and fell back on the floor. And that was when Hinata seized her chance. The Hyūga girl knelt on the floor, next to the fallen blonde and touched her shoulder. The girl jumped from the contact. "It's okay," Hinata tried again. "We're not going to do anything. We want to help you."

A long beat of silence. Then, "You can't help me," were the first words the ravenette had heard from the blue eyed girl. "Which is why you need to leave. Now!"

Surprised by the sudden outburst, Hinata backed off slightly, and then she saw it from the corner of her eye. Her white gaze spotted a sharp, long white object coming at her at high speed, not having the time to move out of the way. Suddenly, her gaze was met with cold silver of Sakura's scythe as it deflected the incoming projectile, piercing a nearby tree instead. Her eyes widened as she saw that the white object had impaled the tree without so much as leaving any splinters, piercing it clean through. And to think that could have been her instead.

"I'm impressed," a monotone voice, coming from within the trees, said. Then, the person that went with the voice came out, vivid green eyes, surrounded by pale skin, stared at the trio of girls. Th owner of those eyes and skin belonged to a young man with two, scarlet dots on the forehead of his masculine facial features, shoulder-length white hair that was divided down the middle of his head with two separate partings on either of his face, framing it. He wore a long sleeve, loose fitting, light lavender zip-up shirt, black pants that were cut off around mid-calf, bandages wrapped around his ankles and open toe sandals. Finishing off the look was a purple, robe-like belt which was tied in a inverted bow around his waist.

"I honestly thought that it would go through that weapon of your's, but it look liked I was wrong," he told them.

"You bastard," Sakura growled, her fingers tightening on the polearm of her weapon. "Who the hell are you?"

"Kimimaro," the man called himself, spreading both arms ever so slightly. Something began to move inside the skin of Kimimaro's arms, his wrists opening up in to perfect circles, before more of those white, spiked objects came out, grasping them in both hands. "But I know who you are Haruno Sakura. You are not my target, for now. But stand in my way, and I'll have no choice but to kill you."

Sakura reached up for her eyepatch, and took the thing off. Now, with both orbs on her target, her eyes narrowed. "You can try," she told him, her demonic eye glowing as black flames engulfed her clothes, replacing them with her cherry blossom patterned kimono. The man named Kimimaro didn't waste time in attacking. As soon as her transformation was complete, the man lunged at her, cutting the air from above.

The pinkette took the blow, blocking the attack with the scythe's polearm, and caused a deadlock. Sakura gritted her teeth and turned to look at the ravenette with the corner of her eye. "Go, Hinata!" she grunted, "Take her and get out of here!" Hinata nodded, knowing the routine by now, and took the blonde's hand in her own.

"Let's go!" she shouted, forcing the girl up and taking her back to the entrance.

* * *

Seeing Hinata's retreating form, Sakura turned back to person that deserved her whole attention. The man, Kimimaro, was extremely strong. He wore a complete stoic expression as he pushed into her scythe harder. The pinkette could feel the ground beneath her begin to cave in, little by little.

"You really think you can take me?" he asked, his face not betraying even a hint of emotion. In fact, he looked bored. "You are a complete and utter fool."

"That may be," she said. "But there is no way in hell that I won't try." Mustering up some of her demonic strength, Sakura pushed the man's 'blades', twisted her body and kicked the man in the chest. We went backwards, but stopped himself from smacking into a tree. His composure remained the same though. When he stood up straight, Kimimaro closed his eyes and moved his neck from side to side. The sickening sound of bone moving back into place was heard before he opened his eyes, vivid green meeting heterochromic orbs.

This fight was going to be a long one.

* * *

They were nearly there, the exit to the forest clearing was almost upon them. "Come on!" Hinata cried out. "We're almost out!" The sound of someone out of breath was all she got back from the girl, but they had to keep moving. All of sudden, the blonde girl let out a short scream, her footing getting caught on a stray root of a tree, before she tumbled onto the floor.

"Are you alright?" Hinata asked worriedly.

The girl bore a pained expression, telling her she was fine. Then, her blue eyes looked at Hinata's gaze. "Forget about me," the blonde said. "Get out of here while you still can."

"If you're worried about that man, who was chasing you, you don't need to worry," Hinata tried to reassure her. "Sakura-chan can take of herself." With that, the Hyūga girl helped the girl up again, and ran the remaining the distance that it took to get of the forest of trees.

"You don't understand!" the girl exclaimed. "He isn't the only one you need to worry about!"

The ravenette looked back, wondering what the girl meant by those words, but she nearly found out the hard way. As soon as she left the confines of the trees and was in the open space, three projectiles, different to the ones Kimimaro had used, flew straight at her. Luckily, with a cry from the girl behind her shouting, "Watch out!" the blonde wrapped her arms around the ravenette and pushed forward. The three projectiles missed her, but in exchange caught the girl in the back, three tears on the back of her ragged dress. On the ground, Hinata managed to turn herself around with the girl's body on top of her, asking the blonde if she was alright.

"I'm fine," she said. Hinata wouldn't have believed her but when she saw steam coming from the three scratch marks that had been inflicted upon her back, and the wounds closed up, instead, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Not even Sakura's self-healing was that fast.

"I wouldn't say that," another voice spoke, Hinata's white gaze turning from the girl's back, to the person that had thrown... whatever it was that they had thrown. Wearing a black robe with red lining, there stood another young man with onyx eyes, behind glasses, and ash-grey hair, which was tied into a ponytail. The corner of his lips turned into a smirk, causing the blonde, that Hinata held onto by the shoulders, to growl and narrow her eyes.

"It's time to come back to us... Kyūbi."

* * *

 **And that's another chapter done and a new beginning for another arc.**

 **T** **hanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	32. A Fox And A Snake

**Hey, it's Yuri here, and welcome back for another chapter of Demonic Love.**

 **Just wanted to give a quick thanks to people who favorite/followed my story, it's very much appreciated. So, without further ado, on with the chapter.**

 **Like always,** **I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"It's time to come back to us... Kyūbi."

When the young man in glasses said that name, Hinata could feel the girl's body tense through her hands. _Kyūbi?_ Hinata wondered. Was that the name of the girl next to her? Well, it didn't matter at the moment. From how the girl was acting, it looked like this person wasn't someone you could trust. "Who are you?" the ravenette decided to ask.

Those onyx orbs looked into Hinata's white pools, for about second or so, before he closed his eyes and adjusted his glasses. "Forgive me, I've seem to have forgot my manners," the man said. He crossed an arm over his chest and gave a bow. "I'm Yakushi Kabuto. A scientist from the Demon Realm. And I've come here to bring back something that had escaped."

Saying that last part, his eyes moved to the blonde girl, and Hinata narrowed her own orbs. The schoolgirl was already beginning to hate this man, named Kabuto. From the way he was making it sound, plus the way he looked at her, it was as if the blonde was nothing more than an experiment, a thing.

"So you're a demon?" Hinata asked, her voice low. To her surprise, Kabuto chuckled at that.

"A demon? Hehehe, I wouldn't be caught dead being one of those things," he said. "I'm human, very much like you. I was a slave once, like the other many humans living in there. But I'm guessing dear old Sakura already told you that. Right, Hyūga Hinata-san?"

Her eyes widened and her heart nearly stopped. "How, do you know my name?" she asked, worry setting in.

"The demon hunter of the Yamanaka clan, Yamanaka Ino," he continued. "Your childhood friend, Hiramatsu Tenten. That half demon and human hybrid, Haruno Sakura. And of course, there's you, Hyūga Hinata-san. Before we came to this world, I had to do a bit of recon before hand."

The raven haired girl was shocked. Hinata, and she was pretty sure that her friends as well, had never met this man before, but while that was all surprising, there was one word that the raven haired clung on to. _We._ Did that mean that other man, Kimimaro, was with this person? Kabuto's voice broke that line of questioning when he said his next words.

"And out of those people I've listed, you are the most interesting person," he said, making Hinata confused. Why would she be the most interesting out of Ino and Sakura. the two incredible people that she had met? He smiled, wickedly, seeing the confusion that was written on her face. "You have a secret, don't you? Something in your past that you've never told anyone. "

Her eyes widened in fear, the blood running through the ravenette's growing cold, chilling her to the bone. _There's was no way_ she thought, her hand's tightening on the girl's arms. _There's no way he knows that._ It was the reason why she came to Konohagakure in the first place, to escape and to forget everything about it. But here this man was, bringing it all up again, and with the memories. Memories about a time best left forgotten. Again, the man's chuckling broke her thoughts.

"Well, it doesn't matter about one's past. Considering if said person won't be alive long enough to worry about it." That brought the ravenette back to her senses. Even if he knew, all that mattered was the here and now. Thinking that, Hnata pulled the girl back, making sure that she was now in front, protecting the girl with her body. Kabuto narrowed his eyes, his smirk plain as day on his face.

"I'll admit, you have courage girl," he said, but then gave a shrug of his shoulders. "But it's pointless in the end. Which is I'm going to give you a chance. Give me the girl, and you get to live just a bit longer. Sounds good, right? I'm a very reasonable person after all."

"Never," was Hinata's immediate response.

"I had a feeling you'd say that," said Kabuto. With one last chuckle, the ash-grey haired man disappeared from her line of sight. Before she knew it, she heard him whisper next to her. "Meddlesome girl." When Hinata turned to her left, she was met with the sole of an open toed sandal and she was kicked away, letting out a cry of pain as she bounced on the ground a few times before stopping a fair distance.

Ignoring the fact that her head felt dizzy, she lifted it slowly, already feeling like she wanted to vomit from the way the world was spinning in her eyes, and saw that Kabuto was now in front of the blonde girl he had called Kyūbi. The girl was about to make a run for it, but the man caught her wrist and brought her up so that she was now standing on her feet.

"It's time to head back. Orochimaru-sama is looking forward to having you with us again," he told her. The blonde's blue eyes looked fearful and tried to get out of his grip but to no avail. Gritting her teeth, Hinata managed to get herself up and without thinking about it, she ran. Kabuto was too distracted, and the ravenette took this moment to tackle him, her arms wrapping around his mid-section and pulled him away from the girl.

"What?!" Kabuto shouted, giving the girl a death glare and snarled. "You just don't know when to quit!" Raising his fist, Kabuto punched the Hyūga girl's head as hard as he could. But Hinata's grip did not falter, gritting her teeth and baring the pain. He continued to attack her head, cursing each time that she refused to budge. And while he did so, Hinata turned her white gaze to the blonde girl.

"Run," she told her, the look the blonde girl gave was one of shock, mixed with worry. "Run away, now!"

"But, you..." the girl started to answer back, but with a final cry from Hinata, telling her to get out of there, the girl named Kyūbi closed her eyes tightly and ran the other direction.

Seeing the girl finally doing what she was told, Hinata smiled. But unfortunately, without herself realising, her grip on Kabuto slacking slightly and that was all he needed. Turning his body, he kneed Hinata in the pit of her stomach, the girl letting out a gurgling gasp of pain as saliva flew from her mouth. Then, again, the man kicked the ravenette's face, sending her back on the ground, face-down.

"Stupid girl," she heard him mutter with a growl in his voice. Feeling the tip of his foot underneath her, he flipped the girl over onto her back, her eyes closed tightly from the pain. Trying to keep the bile in her stomach, Hinata opened one eye slowly, noticing that the man had now positioned himself over her, his feet on either side of her body.

His onyx eyes glared at her coldly, his mouth in a straight line, neutral. Slowly, he reached down with his left hand and grasped a handful of the collar of Hinata's school uniform and pulled the upper part of her body up. His right hand began to glow a bright blue, messy at first before it morphed into something more solid and sharp, surrounding his hand perfectly. The ravenette could begin to feel herself begin to choke from the hold and weakly placed a hand on Kabuto's left wrist.

"Remember, Hyūga-san," he said to her, " you brought this upon yourself. Once I'm finished with you, I'll bring Kyūbi back to my master, kill your precious friends and take over the entire Human Realm." Hinata opened her mouth to say something, but with the hold on her she couldn't even get one syllable out.

He then grinned wickedly again, sending another shiver down the girl's spine. "But look on the bright side," he continued. "Once you're gone, you won't have to think about the past anymore." With that, he raised his glowing, blue hand up, and with a thrust, he aimed at Hinata's chest.

* * *

Tears poured out from her eyes as she ran away, guilt wrapping around her like a noose, tightening around itself for each step she took, for each breath she exhaled as she ran. She had just let an innocent bystander, who had only, for a short time, cared about her well being, die by the hands of someone that had helped create her.

But then again, wasn't it that girl's fault in the first place? She had told her before, back in the forest, that she should leave her alone, that there was nothing she, or the other girl, could do to help her. But she didn't listen, and now she was paying the price for her mistake.

 _ **"PATHETIC..."**_

The blonde's blue eyes widened, shocked from hearing a voice. When she stopped in her tracks and turned to look behind her, she noticed something disturbing. She was no longer in the Human Realm. The way ahead of her was pitch black, and when she turned, she saw that it was the same on that side too. Taking a step, she felt something around her ankles and looking down she saw that her feet were in a water, which seemed to go on forever in an endless abyss.

 _Where am I?_ she wondered. Without knowing, she wandered forward, he feet splashing against the water below her. When her eyes started to get use to the dark, the girl noticed that on either side of her where walls made of solid, smooth stone. She kept on walking, and walking, and walking, looking this way and that. But it was all the same. Even when she came to a split path, going either left or right, it continued to be the same dull place.

The blonde girl was about to give up, and wondered if she was ever going to get out of this place. But that was until she saw it. Standing in front of her was a massive gate made of gold. And place directly in front of the gate, was a seal.

 _ **"HE...HE...HE..."**_

Again her eyes widened in horror, hearing that menacing, slow chuckle. She turned herself around to see anyone was there; there wasn't. She looked back and again saw nothing. Fear began to creep up on her like a predator with it's eyes on it's prey. "W-Who's there?!" she cried. "Show yourself!"

 _ **"BEHIND YOU..."**_

 _BA-THUMP!_

Her heartbeat began to echo loudly in her ears and hit hard in her chest. Cold sweat began to cascade down her back, and slowly, she turned her head back towards the gate. Her eyes grew into circles, her eyes shaking with horror and when she took a step back, the blonde slipped and feel into the water, her gaze never once leaving her target. Red eyes that glowed in the darkness, were staring at her as sharp, white teeth curled into a smile. She couldn't see the body well enough, but red mist that surrounded the two visible parts made up for it.

"W-What are you...?" she asked in stuttering, quiet voice.

 ** _"WHO I AM, AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME, IS NOT IMPORTANT... WHAT YOU DO NEXT, IS..."_**

"What do you mean?"

 _ **"THAT GIRL WHO WHO SAVED YOU... WHO WAS WILLING TO GIVE HER LIFE UP FOR SOME ONE AS PATHETIC AS YOU... I CAN GIVE YOU THE POWER TO SAVE HER AND KILL THE MAN THAT HUNTS YOU..."**_

When she heard those words, the fear that she felt for the creature before her started to subside, the guilt she felt before now taking it's place. Getting back on her feet she moved closer to the mysterious being, now just an arm's length to the cage. "How?" she asked, referring to it's offer. She could have sworn this things grin grew, it's eyes narrowing further and gleamed in delight.

 ** _"JUST TAKE ONE MORE STEP AND I'LL GIVE YOU A STRENGTH YOU'VE NEVER FELT BEFORE..."_**

The girl thought for a moment, contemplating. In the back of her mind, she was telling herself that this thing couldn't be trusted, that this was going to be more harm than good. But the other part, thought the exact opposite. That if she did accept, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to pay the debt the girl did for her. And the thought of killing the man that had helped _that_ bastard made it more appealing. She made her choice, and tentatively took a step forward.

Almost immediately, the red mist formed a clawed hand, and grabbed the girl. Panic started to seize her, but when she suddenly felt her mind growing blank, that fear went away. The light in her blue eyes grew dull and before her consciousness faded away, she heard these words come from the creature and wondered if she had made the right choice:

 _ **"NOW, LET'S HAVE SOME FUN..."**_

* * *

 _SMASH!_

Yamanaka Ino had been in the middle of doing the dishes after having a nice meal with the owner of Saginomiya Flowers and her granddaughter, who decided to stop by and was at the moment helping her dry. Just as she had been about to hand another dish over to the girl next to her, something shocked the blonde to the core. Her fingers loosened around the dish and slipped through her fingers, hitting the floor and smashing to bits. The huntress then keeled onto the floor, her arms wrapping around her body.

"Ino-chan, are you alright?!" Chiharu cried out, crouching next to the now shivering Ino and holding her shoulders. The blonde's eyes were widened in fear, chills going up and down her spine and cold sweats pouring down all over her body. Her heart was beating rapidly, hurting her chest and her blood froze in her veins.

 _What... the hell... is this chakra?_ she asked in her thoughts. _It's... it's... monstrous._ The sudden burst of pure demonic chakra reminded the girl of the time she delved into the mind of Sakura, and met the demon known as Izanami.

If Ino knew one thing,learning from experience, it was this; if that demon, with that sort of chakra, was out there, only one thing could come from it.

The end of the world as they knew it.

* * *

Sakura's heterochromatic eyes widened as she felt a powerful presence nearby. Strangely enough, it felt familiar to the scythe wielder. But she couldn't fathom why that was. But there was one thing she could, however, and that was that the sudden burst of energy was coming from the direction that Hinata and the blonde haired girl had gone. _Is Hinata in trouble?_ If that was the case, the pinkette needed to get to her and fast.

"Should you really be looking away from your opponent?" the voice of Kimimaro asked, breaking Sakura's train of thought. She had almost forgotten about the white haired man. _Almost._ She wasn't that distracted to let her guard down.

"Sorry Kimimaro," Sakura apologised. "But I can't stay here any longer. So this needs to end, now." With that declaration out in the open, the pinkette's demonic eye started to glow brightly, the trees surrounding the two fighters rustling violently as she spoke the name, the words coming out of her mouth like it was second nature to her. "Izanami."

Black flames instantly engulfed the girl's body, Kimimaro watching with a bored expression. When the flames dispersed themselves, Sakura stood there in her demonic form, her defined robes and pink hair flapping this way and that, from the sudden, quick wind.

"Your demonic form? You are getting serious," Kimimaro supplied, but Sakura said nothing back, her two coloured gaze staring into his vivid green ones. For the first time since they met, the corner of Kimimaro's lips curled into a simple smile. "Then I suppose I should get a bit serious myself."

Crouching down, lowing his head and crossing his arms in front of himself, holes began to open up in his palms as two more long, spiked objects came out of the openings created. It didn't end there. Several more grew from his elbows, knees and shoulders. The man looked back up, and Sakura took a defensive stance, raising her scythe, getting ready for anything.

"Yanagi no Mai..."

* * *

Hinata could only watch as Kabuto's glowing hand came at her in a thrust. But thankfully it didn't make it as a clawed shaped hand, made of a translucent red grabbed the threatening appendage. Both she and the ash-grey haired man turned to their side and saw none other than the blonde haired girl standing there, her eyes shadowed by her blonde bangs. The same translucent red was also covering her up from head to toe, and took on the appearance of a fox with two, long ears and a tail.

Not a moment later, Hinata could smell burning flesh, so when she turned back to the hand holding her, the clawed hand grasping Kabuto's wrist began to sizzle and smoke. "Shit!" the man cursed, dropping the girl and using his glowing hand to strike at the threatening appendage, before jumping back as far as possible. Once he landed, his onyx orbs turned to where the girl's 'hand' had caught him and tore of the piece of material. He smile when he looked back up. "So you've finally shown yourself, Kyūbi."

In response, the blonde girl lifted her head, and through the gapes of blonde strands, Hinata saw that her eyes had changed from a bright blue, to crimson with cat-like iris', and the three whisker markings on her cheeks became thicker. Next, she took a step forward, the sole of her barefoot landing on a patch of grass below the appendage and the ravenette couldn't help but stare in shock. The grass started to burn away, corrode even. And when she took another step, the same thing happened.

The blonde haired girl ignored Hinata completely, not even taking a second to glance, and walked past her, her obvious target being Kabuto. She stopped about a few feet away from the man, and just stared at him. Kabuto smiled and laughed under his breath. "Orochimaru-sama has missed you terribly, Kyūbi," he said, both of his hands glowing anew. "So why don't I give you a light anaesthetic, and we'll be on our way?"

The blonde girl only gave the man a one word response to the offer; "Kill."

The smile faded from his face, forming back into a thin line. "Kill," the girl repeated, the nails on her fingers growing long and sharp. Her upper lip twitched into a snarl as she bared her sharpened white teeth, leaning forward so her hands now touched the ground. Seeing her like that, with the translucent red ears and tail, she really looked to be mimicking an animal. "Kill," she said again, growling after her words left. And once she said it for the fourth time, that was when it all started.

The blonde girl lunged herself at the man, her right hand suddenly forming a black sphere of swirling demonic energy. With a cry, that made Hinata's legs almost buckle had she been standing, escaping her throat, she thrust the attack the man she was aiming for. With a click of his tongue, Kabuto jumped out of the way, the blonde's attack missing and hitting the ground instead. It let off an explosion, and the area the girl was in was covered in a dust cloud.

Not for long though.

She immediately burst out from within it, charging at Kabuto with full speed and swung her tail at him. It was that fast, the man didn't have time to move and used both arms to take the hit. He was sent flying, but managed to stop himself, his feet digging into ground. Once stopped, he looked over his arms. The girl didn't attack, just stared at him with ferocious red eyes and bared teeth. Smiling once more, Kabuto regained his posture and stood tall.

"Amazing as always, Kyūbi," said the man. "Maybe it's time I got a bit serious. Otherwise, I'll most likely get killed." Saying that, Kabuto tore away his robe, underneath he wore nothing but black pants and open toed sandals, his upper body completely bear. Then, clenching both of his fists, letting out a low growl of his own, he began to change.

His body begun to turn white and scaly, his onyx orbs slowly turning yellow with slitted pupils, around them were purple markings. Then from his abdomen, it began to morph, something long sprouting out, wrapping itself around the man's waist, slithering behind him like a tail, before it poke up from behind him. What came out was a snake with a similar skin tone and it's tongue poked out at intervals. Finally, four horns suddenly grew from the back of his head and at last he was finished.

"Come then Kyūbi," he taunted, "let's see more of that monstrous strength." The girl roared in response, the taunt successful and charged head first into battle. A battle between a fox and a snake.

* * *

 **Another chapter done and dusted. For those who don't know, 'Yanagi no Mai' means Dance of the Willows. And I bet some people are wondering what secret our Hinata is hiding. Unfortunately, that question will be answered, in the sequel to this ;) Also, the reason I don't refer to Kimimaro's bones as such (aka the white spikes) is because they don't know what they are, so I hope that helps.**

 **T** **hanks for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	33. The Beginning of the End

**The mad scientist lays the body of YuriBluflame on his table and with all necessary components, he pulls down the lever and powerful electricity courses through the body. When it's over, all is quiet. That was until his patient opened his eyes and sat up, the scientist shouting out to the heavens:**

 **"He alive? He's Alive?! HE'S ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLIVE!"**

 **Hey guys, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I started streaming back in January/February and had only become an affiliate early this month, so I've spent a lot of my time streaming. But I'm not going to stop writing this story, now or anytime soon, but now I've got a lot on my plate. Plus there's work and a lot of real life stuff, so there is a lot going on. I'm also writing my Supergirl fanfic as well, because I want to write some romance out and not being able to do that yet in this story was killing me. But there will be romance soon between Sakura and Hinata so don't worry about that, and hope it goes well for them.**

 **But regardless, during the time, I want to thank everyone who are still enjoying this story and to the people who follow and favourite as well.**

 **So with that said, let's begin shall we? :)**

 **Like always,** **I apologise in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P.S. I wrote this in 1st person first, so if I left anything, I do apologise**

* * *

The tension was high as Hinata watched on. The girl known as Kyūbi stood there on all fours, her teeth bared, and was growling at the man across from her, the translucent red 'shroud' surrounding the blonde, violently bubbling. The man called Kabuto, on the other hand, was calm, serene. He was staring into blood red eyes with a smirk on his now pale features. Even though the ravenette wasn't anywhere near them, she could still feel their intense heat from all the way from where she was laying, a cold sweat running down her back. However, with a violent roar coming out of the girl's throat, the tree branches and leaves started to rustle violently from the vibrations.

The blonde made the first move of the fight. Gathering the same swirling, dark energy in her right hand, the girl charged at Kabuto. Upon seeing the blonde's reckless, and repeatative, movement the former human slave reached into a pouch on his right thigh, drew out three, long needles and ignited them with the same blue aura that had surrounded the man's hand before. Then, he threw the three sharp objects at his target, but the blonde easily dodged them, swaying left and then right. The last one, Kyūbi spun herself around, her crimson eyes never leaving her opponent. When one foot landed on the ground, the girl leapt high into the air, cocking her attack back, and with another cry that could pierce someone's soul, gravity now doing it's work, she thrust her dark energy at Kabuto.

"Hmph," the snake eyed man grunted. He jumped out of the way, in the air, as Kyūbi's attack hit the spot where he had stood only a moment ago. Immediately, however, the girl went after him. The blonde was fast, but just as she was about to touch him, she disappeared from sight. Not even a second went by when she reappeared behind Kabuto, wrapping both of her arms and legs around his body, letting out another roar and flipping them both upside down. The young girl rotated them both, the pair spiralling down to earth, until they hit the grass and mud of the park. Another dust covered cloud was formed, shading the spot where they had plummeted, but the girl was the only one to emerge from within it.

Coming out from the top and landing just a few feet away from where Hinata was laying, the ravenette could hear the girl breath laboured breaths of exertion, her crimson gaze still lingering on the dust cloud, waiting. But then, all of a sudden, the cloud began to stretch towards Hinata and Kyūbi's direction, and in the next moment, a snake's head broke though, it's maw wide open, revealing two long, sharp teeth. Kyūbi didn't have time to move and the snake latched itself onto the blonde's shoulder. The girl screamed, and was lifted off of the ground, high into the sky before she was swung to the ground, hard, causing a crater from the impact.

It wasn't finished though. It again lifted the girl and swung her the other way, causing the same result. Finally, the snake appendage lifted the girl up one last time and threw her like a rag doll, Kyūbi's body bouncing once, twice, three times before hitting a tree and toppling it over. It was at that moment that Kabuto walked out, the dust dissipating behind him, the snake once again wrapping itself around his waist. He moved his neck, side to side, the sound of bones moving back into place being heard throughout the park.

"Don't you think we should stop this Kyūbi?" he asked. "I think we've played this little game long en-"

A hand grabbing his face stopped the man's sentence, before being forced to the ground. Kyūbi roared out a war cry, glaring at the pale man beneath her palm. Kabuto grasped the arm holding him down, but couldn't move because of the sheer power the girl possessed. The girl then cocked her other hand back, closing it into a tight fist. She thrust the threatening appendage forward, punching the man in the face. Hinata could feel the impact of the punch from where she was, shaking the ground like an earthquake. The blonde then lifted her other fist, the one that had been holding her opponent captive, and did the same thing, causing another tremor. She raised the first fist and punched again. And again. And again. Hinata slowly stood up and watched as the blonde haired girl pummelled the man she was on top of, his face slowly beginning to get crushed from the impact of each punch. And she didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon.

"That's enough," she whispered, taking a step closer. Pain wracked her body from the beating she had endured, but she carried on regardless. "You can stop now. It's over."But Kyūbi just kept on punching, Kabuto's skull flattened beyond recognition. The raven haired girl was close to her now, and the sight was gruesome, bile threatening to escape her stomach. Knowing she had to do something however, Hinata made her way to blonde just as she lifted her fist to strike again. Hinata wrapped both of her arms around her own, but in the process, she could feel her arms begin to burn.

Clenching her jaw together to stop herself from crying out from the pain, the blonde's sharp, crimson orbs turned to look at the ravenette. The anger and rage that Hinata saw in those eyes were terrifying, but at the same time they were showing hurt. "It's over now," the Hyūga girl continued. "You don't need to fight anymore."

The angered look the blonde gave didn't go away, and for a second, Hinata thought that she was going to attack her too, not knowing or caring if she was friend or foe. Soon though, Kyūbi's eyes slowly shifted from red to sky blue and the red, translucent cloak that had covered her entire being, vanished. The blonde closed her eyes then, her body limp from exhaustion and was about to fall down, but Hinata caught the blonde in her arms. "Are you alright?" she asked, wondering if she could hear Hinata or not.

Thankfully, she opened her eyes, blinking them a few times. "What... happened?" the girl wondered, her ocean blue orbs turning to the skull crushed corpse near her feet. "Did I...?" The bile was really trying to get out in the open now, so instead of answering Hinata turned her away from the body and moved in the opposite direction.

"Let's get out of here," the raven haired girl suggested, making their way toward the entrance of the park.

"What about... your friend?" she asked.

"Don't worry. Sakura-chan will be fine."

She smiled at the girl, hoping that it would work. The blonde gave a small smile back but it all but vanished, including Hinata's, when they both heard a voice behind them, the blood in the ravenette's veins running cold in an instant.

"She might be alright, but you won't be."

Both of them turned their fearful gazes back to the dead body and in that moment, they saw something that made Hinata go one step closer to throwing up. The abdomen of Kabuto's dead body began to thrust out in different directions, first were hands, then a face. After the final thrust, one of the hands burst through, blood splashing everywhere in it's vicinity and the appendage was now stained with the colour red. The blood soaked hand went down and pressed on the dead body for support, before the other arm came out and did the same.

Soon, an upper body that was connected with the arms came out from within it until it all revealed itself. Stepping out from the corpse, snake eyes trained themselves on the two girls and with a smile, the man before them clenched both of his fists. As if there was an invisible wall behind him, the man slammed both of his fists behind him and in a second, all the blood and gore that was on his body, had disappeared.

"So," began Kabuto, "where were we?"

* * *

Letting out a war cry, Sakura lunged at Kimimaro and swung her scythe in a horizontal slash. But just like every attempt that she'd made, he dodged it nimbly, back flipping out of the way of the attack, until his feet landed flat on a tree's trunk and launching himself off. He spun round and around, like a hedgehog, and the pinkette raised her silver metal weapon to block her spinning foe. When he came in contact, sparks flew in every direction. Sakura gritted her teeth, not realising how heavy the attack was, and with a grunt she pushed herself away, jumping, and Kimimaro landed in the spot the demon girl had just occupied only a second ago.

Landing, Sakura breathed hard, facing her opponent who was inside a short dust covered loud. When it dispersed, it revealed Kimimaro in the middle of standing up, his eyes closed. Once vivid green eyes opened, they stared into my heterochromic orbs, still showing no sign of any emotion. Turning his body, so it was facing her direction, he got into a crouch once more and crossed his arms in front of him. Sakura stared at the man before her. Even with the speed of her demonic form, she couldn't get by the spiked defense he had given himself. When the pinkette had attacked with a diagonal strike following it by a curved swing, the white haired man would deflect it with his sharp, white palm and elbow additional appendage, countering Sakura with his own swift, fast movements.

"What's wrong, Haruno Sakura?" he asked in his monotone voice. "Have you finally given up?" Narrowing her eyes dangerously, Sakura glared at the man, feeling the anger in the pit of her stomach rising, and her blood boil. Without saying a word, or letting out a breath, the pinkette used her enhanced speed and charged herself directly in front of him. "How predictable," the man said, getting ready to counter whatever the girl was about to throw at him. Her first move was a feint, however, disappearing from his line of sight.

When she reappeared, it was on his side, but even then Sakura didn't stay for long, disappearing once more. She continued this movement, until all she left where afterimages of herself, hoping to distract Kimimaro from the demon girl's real goal. The white haired man's eyes were following each of her other selves, no doubt trying to figure out which one was the real pinkette. And that was when Sakura took her opening. While the afterimages carried on, she physically appeared behind him, her scythe at the ready to end it.

Or so she thought. Before Sakura knew what was happening, more of those white, spiked things, six in total, came out of his back and extended in length. Sakura's eyes widened when she felt their sharp tips pierce through her body; one each in her left and right clavicle, one in each of her legs and two in her abdomen. Closing her eyes, her face contorted in pain, Sakura began to cough out blood, a little dribbling down her chin.

"Like I said, you're predictable," Sakura was literally pinned in mid-air, so the girl had no choice but to listen to this man speak. Then, he retracted everything, including the ones that kept Sakura suspended in the air, causing her discomfort as she felt them pull out of her body. After that, Sakura started to fall, but not even before did she hit the ground, that Kimimaro jumped, spun in the air and crushed her chest with the sole of his open toed sandals, sending the girl flying into a tree and breaking it in half.

Sakura's body felt like lead at this point, and even more so when she tried to raise her head, hearing footsteps coming towards her. When she eventually did look up, vivid green eyes where staring coldly at her and in the end she knew she couldn't keep it up. Unwillingly, Sakura's demonic form dispersed, her school's uniform once again taking precedence. "I see you're too damaged to keep your form," Kimimaro said, informing the pinkette on something that was blatantly obvious to her. "How disappointing."

"Then... what are you waiting for?" she asked him, slowly feeling another bout of coughing coming along. "Finish it."

"There's no need kill you," he told her, making Sakura furrow her brows at him in confusion. "You are no longer a threat to the mission, which I will now go and complete." With those words out into the open, Kimimaro turned on his heel and began to walk away from her.

"Where... the hell are you... going?"

The white haired man took one more step before stopping. "My mission is to bring that girl, Kyūbi, back with us, by any means necessary. And if that friend of yours, Hyūga Hinata, gets in my way," he turned his head slightly, so that he was staring at the girl. "She will die."

With her eyes widening again, Sakura could hear and feel her heart beating heavily in her chest, hurting itself against her rib cage. Slowly, she cast her gaze downward, the bangs of her pink hair acting like a curtain, separating her view with his. Seeming satisfied that she wasn't saying anything anymore, Kimimaro started walking away again.

"...Predictable, you said?"

Hearing the pinkette's voice, her growl, Kimimaro again stopped in his tracks. Slowly, Sakura grabbed onto the stump of where the tree used to be and with difficulty, forced herself up. The girl gritted her teeth from the pain, ignoring the protest of her limbs.

"That's right," Kimimaro said, answering my rhetorical question. "During our fight, I've learned quite a few things about you, such as your strength and weaknesses. Even your fighting style." The white haired man turned his body around until he was once again facing Sakura. "All of them point to one basic thing; you're straight forward. You don't plan your attacks, just act on impulse. And what little strategy you do have, involves sneak attacks with the speed of that robed form of your's.

"In short, Haruno Sakura, everything you do is predictable as day."

"Is that so?"Sakura questioned, now standing tall, breathing laboured breaths. _Fuck it._ Even if she hadn't had her demonic form to help, she was still going to do it. With that thought, the pinkette tightened her hands into fists. "Then, Kimimaro, let me tell you about the mistake that you've just made."

The man let out a breath of pretend amusement. "A mistake I've made? Then by all means, tell me?"

"It's simple," she growled, lifting her head to glare at her enemy, the yellow demonic orb glowing brightly. Sakura could feel the power begin to flow through her, mixed with the hate she felt towards this man. "You should have never threatened Hinata!" As she let those words out, black flames suddenly engulfed her entire being. Once dissipated, Sakura was once again in her demonic form and in the next moment, those same flames covered her entire left arm. Amaterasu. Even just unleashing it for just about a second, she could hear the sound of _her_ laughing in the back of the demon girl's mind.

Again, laboured breaths escaped through Sakura's lips. She could feel her legs trying to buckle in on themselves, but she tried with all her might to remain standing. "Interesting," said Kimimaro, his face impassive since the moment they met, but his tone did indicate that he wasn't expecting something like this. Spreading her feet apart, Sakura bent her knees slightly, getting ready to strike. There was a ghost of a smile coming from the white haired man's lips. "It seems that this is to be your last stand. Then I guess I shouldn't hold back either."

Having said that, Sakura could feel a shift in Kimimaro's presence, his body beginning to show signs of morphing. The appearance he took now, looked more like a dinosaur. His skin began to turn from white to dark grey, dark black sclera, yellow eye irises and six large, white spikes protruded out of his back, a long spiked tail and two dark black curved markings under his eyes - one under each eye and two as elongated eyebrows - one above each eye. When he opened his mouth to speak, behind his lips where sharp teeth.

"Ready, Haruno Sakura?" With a click of the pinkette's tongue, she went at the man with her final approach, cocking her arm back and lunging herself at Kimimaro. "You never learn do you? Hmph, so be it." Taking a stance, spikes began to grow out of the man's left arm, twisting and turning itself around the appendage like a cocoon. Soon, it became something like a lance. But the threatening looking weapon didn't stop Sakura from continuing her attack. Once she was close enough, Sakura thrust her left, flaming fist at the same time Kimimaro lunged his own weapon at the girl.

When the two connected, it was all up to strength at that point.

* * *

"Quite frankly, I'm beginning to get bored of this little game of ours," Kabuto said, but the smile was still plain on his face. Raising a pale, scaled hand, Kabuto snapped his fingers, and Hinata held the girl in her arms closer to herself. The raven haired girl knew she wasn't strong enough for anything that Kabuto was about to throw at them, but she was going to die trying. Suddenly, multiple puddles made of complete darkness surrounded the pair of girls, and out from within them were creatures from Hell. Clawed hands pierced through the veil of darkness, which in all shapes and sizes, as they attached themselves onto solid ground and pulled themselves up.

Once they came out and stood to their full height, there was nowhere to escape. Their maws dripped with saliva as they stared at Hinata and the blonde, their prey, and the raven haired girl couldn't move a muscle. "Keep the blonde girl alive," Hinata heard Kabuto say, her vision swimming with demons so she couldn't see the man himself. "But do whatever you want to the other."

With those commands, the demon's opened their mouths wider, as if they were smiling , and they were upon Hinata and the girl within seconds. She brought the blonde closer, wrapping her arms tightly around her and closed her eyes. But instead of the demons tearing the girls apart, Hinata heard the sound of cries and death gurgles, the air shifting from something slicing around. After another second, she slowly opened her eyes. All the demons that had surrounded them where now on the ground, dead, and in the middle of becoming mist. In the center of it all, and standing in front of us, was Sakura. She was breathing heavily, and Hinata's eyes widened when the ravenette saw how badly she looked.

She was in her demonic form, but the torso half of the robe had been near enough ripped to shreds, as if it had been blown away from a forceful impact, leaving the girl only in gauze that wrapped around her chest. She was covered in scrapes and gashes, blood coming out from a wound from her head which stopped just above her eyebrow and Hinata noticed that she was using her scythe as a crutch to keep herself upright. "Are you both alright?" Sakura asked, her head turning and her yellow, demonic eye staring at the ravenette with concern. The Hyūga girl's heart ached to see her worry about her and the blonde when she herself was badly wounded. Hinata still gave a nod, however, telling her the she and the blonde were fine.

"Haruno Sakura," Kabuto's voice carried over, causing the pinkette to bring her attention at the pale, scaled man. "It seems you have a habit at showing up at the last moment."

"Glad to disappoint you," glared Sakura, raising her weapon and pointing it at Kabuto. But the pink haired girl was exhausted and I could tell that holding up her scythe was taking at lot of her strength to do. The whited haired man also knew this, a victorious smile painting his lips. But the smile was gone when someone appeared suddenly next to him. It was the young man that had attacked us in the forest, but he seemed worst for ware himself; his entire left arm and some parts of his left side burned up to the point it was charred.

"What's wrong Kimimaro? Don't tell me she was too tough for you?"

"It seems I slightly underestimated her," Kimimaro responded, his gaze never leaving Sakura.

"Hmph," the bespectacled man grunted in response, adjusting his glasses, pushing them up with his middle finger. "Well it doesn't matter at the moment. She's weak right now so she won't be much of a threat." But as soon as he said that, something sharp flew in the air, and scraped Kabuto's cheek, crimson leaking from the wound. Suddenly, cherry blossom's began to flutter on the ground next to Sakura, and stood there was a blonde, pony tailed girl in a purple outfit. Seeing another friendly face, Hinata's body relaxed.

"She may not be a threat, but I certainly am," Ino said, glaring at the man with another kunai in hand, her sword, Masemune, in the other. The Yamanaka girl took a glance in the ravenette's direction, her eyes trained on the girl in her arms. Narrowing them slightly, a bad feeling now sitting in the pit of Hinata's stomach, she turned her focus back on the task at hand. "Looks like you've been through hell, Billboard Brow. If you want, you could sit on the sidelines while I deal with this?"

A smile came to the pinkette's lips. "Fat chance," she replied, regaining her composure. The demon girl swung her scythe to the side, gaining a second wind from Ino's pep talk. "Try to keep up, Ino-Pig." The blonde's lips curled upward, and with it she took a stance. But even seeing another person on their side, a Demon Hunter no less, didn't make the man-turned-snake falter. In fact, the smile on his face seemed to grow, his eyes showing pure amusement. The snake that was around his waist hissed, as if it also found all this funny.

"Just like bugs, you all climb out from the woodwork," Kabuto muttered loudly. "It doesn't matter to me how many of you there are, you'll all be crushed beneath my foot." Making a threat that would know doubt be kept, the pale skinned man took a step forward. But that was all he got up to before an arm shot out in front of him, blocking his path. That arm belonged to Kimimaro, standing by his side, and Kabuto glared at him menacingly, probably thinking why he would dare stop him.

"We don't have time," he reasoned. "Our mission failed and our master is waiting." Their eyes met. "And you know what happens when he's kept waiting."

Kabuto stared into vivid green eyes, and contemplated. After a while, the man closed his own and clicked his tongue in annoyance, but the smile still remained. With a "Hmph', Kabuto's skin quickly reverted to normal, once again taking a form of a human, the snake disintegrating away, and turned on his heel, walking away with Kimimaro following. As soon as Hinata saw the man leave, she was relieved. It finally meant that the fighting had come to a close and they could all rest and regroup.

But she knew. Hinata knew that this wouldn't end just yet.

"Hey!" It was Sakura that yelled out at them, and the Hyūga girl knew she would. The pinkette hated the fact that these guys where just turning the other cheek and walking away. That they where leaving without facing the consequences of their actions. Sakura couldn't just let that one go, and it was one of the things that Hinata loved about her. But at the same time it was also a curse and this time, the girl wished that she'd stop. The pink haired, demon girl was clearly injured from head to toe and could barely stand on her own two feet, and even they wouldn't deter her from her goal. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!" But the two men just ignored her cries, her shouts and that really irked Sakura. Glaring daggers into their backs, gritting her teeth and tightening her hold on her scythe, the pinkette charged at them and Hinata's cries at her name fell on deaf ears.

Closing in fast, Sakura jumped and dove at Kabuto, her weapon at the ready. But what Hinata saw next made her eyes grow wide, her heart practically stopping in her chest and the blood in her veins ran cold. Kabuto turned just in time for Sakura's scythe to slice down in an arc, but all the man had to do was step back a foot and the demon girl fell forward from the momentum of her swing. She was now in a bind, and with a sinister smirk, the white haired man's hand glowed blue and went at Sakura with a thrust. Hinata could only stare, watching as his hand pierced through Sakura's chest, and out from the back. The pinkette's eyes widened and saliva mixed with blood flew from her mouth. Her scythe all but disappeared from her grasp and her demonic form dispersed, leaving her in a torn up school uniform.

Pulling his hand out, Sakura fell like a puppet with it's strings cut. The next thing she knew, the ravenette's voice had gotten raw from her screaming Sakura's name, and with a final smile, Kabuto and Kimimaro left through a swirling pool of darkness, vanishing without a trace. Without thinking, Hinata released her hold of the girl and ran toward the girl she cared about more than the world and crouched by her side. Hinata rolled her onto her back, before raising her body enough so that she was in her arms. The Hyūga girl noticed that their was no stab wound, which should have been impossible, but at the moment she didn't care enough. Unfortunately, however, no matter how many times she called out her name, or shook her, Sakura wouldn't wake up. Her body was entirely still.

"-nata! Hinata!" With blurry vision from her tears, Hinata turned her sights up, Ino kneeling in front of the girl with a hand on her shoulder. That was when she finally noticed the sound of multiple sirens going off in the distant. "I informed the police about a disturbance before I came here, but we need to go. Now." Ino didn't wait for her to say anything back as she quickly took Sakura's arm and placed it around her shoulder. She grimaced when she realised how heavy the full weight of the pinkette was. "Oi," Ino was now regarding the young blonde girl who was staring at them. "If you don't want to be caught, give me a hand!" Blue eyes widened but the girl quickly nodded her head and rushed to hold onto the other side of the demon girl.

As Hinata watched them both go, with Sakura limp by their side, she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Something was wrong with this. Really wrong.

* * *

Sitting on the very edge of a roof, on top of one of many abandoned building, Orichimaru had his eyes closed in meditation. Normally he wouldn't degrade himself to these kind of things, due to the fact he thought they were a waste of time and effort. He was a scientist, and he wouldn't believe in anything that didn't result in some sort of formula, or explaination. But unfortunately Orichimaru didn't have his lab. He was tempted to go and use one that was in this city, either taking over the minds of the weak mortals that reside within, and make them part of his experiments, or just killing them out right. However he don't want to draw attention to himself, not yet anyway. There was plenty of time to achieve his objectives, so for now he would have to make do with this stupid sitting position he found himself in.

A few minutes past, enjoying surrounded quiet, but soon, he opened his eyes, feeling two familiar presences coming from behind him, and when once he turned his head slightly to look from the corner of his eye, there was a swirling pool of darkness on the floor just a few feet away from the scientist. Knowing what it was, Orichimaru turned back around, his eyes trained on the light show that Konohagakure offered during the night.

"Orichimaru-sama," Kabuto, the snaked eyedman's most trusted second in command, and Kimimaro, his second best experiment, the first being the Kyūbi, called out to him in unison. They were no doubt bowing the knee to him, showing deep respect, and with a smirk gracing his lips, Orichimaru stood up from his perch and turned to greet them.

"Kabuto. Kimimaro," he said, then realised that they where short by one person. Which meant only one thing. "I see things didn't go well?" he asked bluntly.

"I'm sorry, Orichimaru-sama," apologised Kabuto, his head still lowered. "Everything was going smoothly as planned. That was until Haruno Sakura and her raven haired friend showed up. And then Kyūbi began to act up and attacked me. I fought the Kyūbi and Hyūga Hinata, while Kimimaro fought Haruno-san."

An amused hum came from their master's throat, his eyes then training themselves upon the Kaguya boy. "And how was she?"

"I had underestimated her," he said. "In the very last moment of our fight, she displayed incredible power of neverending black flame."

"Amaterasu," said Orichimaru, making the Kaguya boy look upon him with wide eyes. He could practically hear the cogs going on in his head, wondering what his master knew. He smiled at that. There were only a select few who knew who Haruno Sakura really was and where her power had come from. The Demon Lord was an obvious one that knew, after all he was the one that gave the order of silence, and of course his children knew too. And there was the head scientist. He closed his eyes once more, chuckling in his mind, remembering the past and how much it entertained him.

"I wouldn't worry about Haruno-san," When Orichimaru opened them again, he stared at his second in command subordinate. Raising a hand, Kabuto's glowed a blue hue and the head scientist instantly knew what he meant by those words.

It was time for the true fun to begin.

* * *

 **With what happened with Sakura and Orichimaru's plan, is this truly the beginning of the end? We can only find out as we go along. Once again, I'm sorry for the very (extremely) late update, but like I said, I'm not stopping this story, it's just not going to update like it used to be, so please bare with me.**

 **T** **hank you so very much for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	34. The Healer

**Hey guys I hope you are doing okay. No this isn't a message from beyond, I'm still very much alive. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for the late update of this story, but like I've said before I'm not going to be giving up on this story. I've come too far to just stop now.**

 **I also want to say my thanks to the people who have followed and Favorited this story so far. I mean, I'd never thought I get to 60 favorites and 57 followers for this, it has really blown my mind! I really do appreciate you guys and I hope that you will continue supporting this story until it's bitter end.**

 **Anyway, on with the story shall we?**

 **Like always,** **I** **apologize** **in advance for any grammar mistakes, repetitiveness and poor writing. And I also** **don't own Naruto or it's characters. I'm just using them for the story. And any OCs that you see in this story are mine.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P.S. I wrote this in 1st person first, so if I left anything, I do** **apologize again. Also I want to put out that I used the Naruto Wiki for some descriptions so all thanks to that goes to them!**

* * *

The ticking sound of the clock was all could be heard in the Hyūga resident's living room, the ravenette's eyes never leaving the sight of her precious person. Sakura was so still like a statue and if it wasn't for the fact that she saw her breathing Hinata would have thought she was dead. Whatever that man, Kabuto, did to her it only seemed have put her into a coma. Hinata had no idea why he simply didn't kill her, but however the reason shes glad he didn't. Suddenly, the sound of the front door being burst open made her turn her head.

It was Tenten as she entered the threshold of Hinata's living room, hands on her knees which meant she ran all the way here. The ravenette was curious as to why she was here; the Hyūga hadn't told her what happened. When she asked that, and she got her breath back, she told her, "Ino gave me a call and told me everything." She then walked up to Hinata, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder before turning her gaze onto the pinkette's form that was laid on the couch. They didn't bother putting Sakura upstairs in the bed so they just grabbed a pillow and blankets and placed her there instead.

"How is she?" Tenten asked, breaking the quiet.

"I don't know," Hinata answered truthfully, reaching out towards the pinkette's hand that was beneath the blanket, taking it out and interlacing their fingers. "Ino had a look at her and told me it had something to do with her chakra network. She's on the phone right now."

"I see," Tenten replied in understanding. A pause. But then out of nowhere her best friend's hand was replaced by arms wrapping around her neck and feeling the weight of Tenten on my back. "Everything is going to be alright, Hinata," she whispered in the white eyed girl's ear. "Sakura has been in rough patches before, so this isn't anything different. Besides, until you confess your damn feelings for her, and she accepts, there's no way in hell we're letting her off that easily."

Hinata smiled at that. Unfortunately, the moment between best friends was brought to an end when Ino came back into the room, cell phone in hand. "I've called for help from a friend," the blonde explained. "Hopefully she should be here soon. But before she does," Ino stopped and glared hard at the extra addition to their small group. Hinata turned her attention to the blonde huddled in the corner of the room, away from everyone. The whiskered faced girl had her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms tightly around them, making herself as small as possible. Even smaller now that their gazes where on her, especially Ino's glare.

Speaking of the blonde, the Demon Hunter was making her way towards the girl in question, now standing in front of her, and clenching hands into fists. "Who the hell are you?" she all but growled out the question. But it only seemed to make her even more scared as the girl refused to look up. Annoyance grew on Ino's features, and before Hinata knew what was going on, petals began to fall from the blonde, her Masemune in hand and all but pointed the tip of the weapon at the blonde. Blue eyes widening, the girl pushed herself as far back as possible and he ravenette couldn't sit by anymore. "I asked who the fuck are you?!"

"That's enough Ino-chan!" Hinata cried out, rushing to the blonde's side and held her in her arms. The girl almost instantly clutched onto the Hyūga girl, like a child needing their mother to protect them. Ino's grip on her weapon tightened.

"Move out the way, Hinata," she ordered in a deadly tone. But the girl refused, giving her own glare back. When the blonde saw that she didn't do as she asked, she began to explain herself. "You don't know what she is. What I felt from her back at Saginomiya-san's house." The blonde's hand started to shake, making the weapon rattle in place, and it made Hinata's eyes soften.

"I know what she is," the girl said softly. "I saw it with my own eyes. But she hadn't had been there for me, Kabuto would have killed me. She saved my life, Ino-chan." There was only silence at that point. The blonde's sky blue eyes looked from the girl in Hinata's arms to the raven haired girl before returning to their original place. Masemune was still pointing at them, but when Tenten came to Ino's side, the brunette placed her hand on the hand holding the weapon.

"That's enough, Ino," said Tenten, her grey eyes never leaving the blonde's. When Ino finally moved her eyes from the hand on her own to it's owner, staring into grey, pleading orbs that shattered the last of Ino's stubbornness. Her hold on Masemune slackened, and quickly dispersed into cherry blossoms. What surprised Hinata the most was when the demon slayer was gone, Ino instantly placed herself on top of Tenten, her face resting in the crook of the tomboy's neck, little sobs escaping the Demon Hunter's lips. Her eyes widening with surprise, and looking lost, Tenten wrapped her arms around the blonde and stroked the Demon Hunter's back up and down, and in smoothing circles.

Hinata couldn't help the smile that came. She doesn't know what had happened to them over the summer, but whatever it was, brought them closer together. After a long moment, Ino, lightly, pushed herself off Tenten, but the tomboy still had her hands on the hunter's waist. Wiping at her eyes, she mumbled, "I'm alright now."

Tenten dipped her head to look into blue orbs. "Are you sure?" she asked, a hint of concern in grey eyes.

When Ino looked up and stared into grey depths, a blush coated her cheeks upon realizing how close the two were. Turning her head to the side, Ino gave a small nod to tell the brunette that she was and with that Tenten finally let go. But Hinata saw the look of loss in Ino's body language, obviously already missing the contact, but she saw the confusion in her features, wondering why she suddenly felt that way.

Hinata couldn't help the warmth that spread through her breast at the display.

* * *

The sound of heavy rain hitting the windows of the house awoke her from her sleep. Hinata didn't remember falling asleep, but after what happened today, it was no wonder she was tired. Coming back to her senses, the girl realized that her body ached on her right side and when she turned to look, all her white orbs saw was blonde locks. Kyūbi had also fallen asleep, leaning her body on the Hyūga's but both her arms had wrapped around her left one. Hinata smiled and continued to observe around her surroundings. Sakura was still on the couch, and hadn't moved since they brought her back. Tenten and Ino where sitting in front of the pinkette and in the same position as she was with the blonde. _They really look cute like that_ I thought.

Save for the rain and the light snoring of everyone else in the room, everything was quiet. And because it was silent, Hinata had time to go over the things that had happened today. But besides watching Sakura getting impaled, there was another moment during the fight that engraved itself into her mind. Something that wouldn't leave her thoughts. That something was the words that man, Kabuto, had said to her.

 _"And out of those people I've listed, you are the most interesting person," he said, making Hinata confused. Why would she be the most interesting out of Ino and Sakura. the two incredible people that she had met? He smiled, wickedly, seeing the confusion that was written on her face. "You have a secret, don't you? Something in your past that you've never told anyone. "_

Just hearing those words in her head made the girl feel a chill go down her spine again. And it also made the memories that she'd pushed far back into her mind tear itself to the surface.

* * *

 _A little girl lays on the floor badly batter and bruised. Her right arm is broken, twisted in a way that it shouldn't be able to and blood is seeping through her mouth and nose. Tears fall from her eyes, hitting the floor beneath her, as she tries her best not to let the soft sobs become louder. Her body suddenly jumps and stiffens, and her eyes grow wide as she hears the roar coming from before her._

 _"Again!"_

 _Using her one arm that his now aching with use, she manages to lift her head up. A man with long, black hair that reached to his shoulders blades gave the girl a cold look with his more distinct white eyes that were once featureless. The veins near his temples bulge out as he gives the little girl a glare for not getting up fast enough. Try as she might to stop them, tears continue to fall but more rapidly._

 _"Please..." the girl pleaded. "I can't..."_

 _Silently, the man walked up to broken body and without a sound raised his leg and kicked the girl, the little one rolling a good distance away. Rolling onto her back, her head moving sideways, she watched with hazy vision the man walking away. "We will continue this tomorrow," he said, his voice holding no emotion for the actions he has done. And with that he left, leaving the poor, broken girl by herself._

 _The only thing on her mind, at that point was her mother, who had suddenly disappeared from her life. How she wished she could see her again and be embraced by her comforting arms, listening to her sweet soothing voice._

 _For the little girl, reality_ _was a cruel thing._

* * *

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Hinata's recollected memory was thankfully interrupted by the sound of the front door being heavily knocked. The noise caused everyone to wake up, and when the knock came again, this time louder and much more heavier, all eyes where trained onto the source. Slowly Hinata stood up, Ino and Tenten doing the same thing and white eyes turned to look at the blonde. "Stay here," the Hyūga told her, getting a mute nod in response. Nodding along, she moved. Once she was near the door, her two friends close behind her, the banging had all of the sudden ceased. But just as Hinata was about to open the door, it nearly hit her in the face. The barrier between them and outside shot open, with enough force to make the door hang on by it's hinges, causing the ravenette to fall back on the floor.

Looking up, the girl was met with the sight of someone standing in front of her wearing a black cloak with a hood surrounding their features, and thanks to the darkness it was hard to make out who this person was. Water droplets fell from this unknown person, and Hinata started to wonder if this person was like Kabuto and Kimimaro, sent here to come and collect the blonde girl. She didn't get to wonder long, as a shout came from behind her, turning just in time to see Tenten come charging.

"Wait, Tenten!" cried Ino who had been next to the brunette. "That's...!"

But she wouldn't listen, swinging her fist at the intruder, which was easily batted away by the stranger with their left hand, and using their right to flick their middle finger at the tomboy's forehead. Hinata was surprised to see the girl was flung back with ease, landing next Ino's feet.

"Really, that's the sort of welcome I get?" asked a feminine voice that Hinata had never heard before. Said voice had come from the cloaked figure and when she turned to look from her flying best friend, the woman behind the hood pulled it down. From within came straight, shoulder-length hair which were tied into two loose ponytails and brown eyes that stared into her white orbs. Hinata noticed that the woman had a violet, diamond shape marking on her forehead, but her eyes never looked at it for long. "Realistically, I should just turn and leave," she continued, but after a beat, the blonde woman let out a sigh, turned and grabbed the almost broken door.

Closing it, she muttered something under her breath and the ravenette's eyes widened in amazement, watching the door hinges going back into place. Slapping her hands together, the older woman turned back to the people in front of her. When her brown orbs landed on Hinata again, she raised an eyebrow and a sly smirk came to her lips. "Are you ever going to get up, or is the floor too comfortable for you?" A blush assaulted Hinata's face of realizing that she was still on the floor, and she immediately stood up, brushing off her skirt in the process.

Behind her, Ino had helped the brunette get up, not before calling her an idiot, and once she knew that Tenten was all right, though a little dazed, she made her way beside Hinata. "Good evening, Tsunade-sama," greeted the Demon Hunter, bowing to the woman in respect. The woman known as Tsunade, shifted her gaze from the Hyūga girl to the other blonde, a look of surprise playing in her eyes.

"Yamanaka?" she said. "When Shizune received the call, she failed to mention it was from you. You know that your family is worried about you back home."

The younger blonde looked at the ground, her features taking on the look of guilt. "I know," she said, "but I can't go back just yet. There are still things that I need to do here."

Seeing the girl's forlorn look, Tsunade reached out and clasped Ino's shoulder, making the younger blonde look up. "I wouldn't worry about it. When I go back I'll let them know that your okay," she replied earning a nod and smile from the young Demon Hunter. "But for now, why don't you introduce me to your friends and then we can begin."

"Of course," saying that, Ino turned to the girls behind her. She first pointed to Hinata. "This is Hyūga Hinata and this is her home." Said girl gave a bow in greeting, giving her own good evening to the woman. "And this-" she indicated to the brunette who was still rubbing her forehead, "-is Hiramatsu Tenten. An idiot who acts before thinking," she added, glaring hard at the tomboy, making said girl squirm under her gaze, blushing and scratching the side of her nose in embarrassment.

"Sorry..." Tenten mutter weakly, and Hinata shouldn't have but she couldn't help giggle at her friends expense. Tsunade chuckled under her own breath.

"Now then," Tsunade began, her features becoming serious. "Since these two are here, and look completely fine, I take it that the person I'm here to see is further inside?"

Getting back to the task at hand, Hinata piped up, leading the older woman further into the threshold of the house. When she walked past Tenten, though, she stopped, smiled and removed the cloak that she had been wearing, tossing it to the brunette. Without the black material around her, Hinata got to see what she had worn underneath. A grass-green haori, with the word 'Gamble' in kanji on the back inside a red circle, a grey, kimono style blouse which was held closely by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matched her pants. For a second, the girl couldn't take her eyes off of the woman's sizable cleavage which had been thanks to the blouse being closed quite low. Hinata shook her head mentally, cursing herself for staring.

"Be a dear and hang on to that for me," she said to the brunette, no doubt getting back at the tomboy for attacking her. Tenten grumbled but still took the item, pulling a face when the rain water on it started to soak her clothes. When everyone entered back into the living room, Hinata noticed that Kyūbi had moved and was now sitting next to the sleeping form of Sakura. As soon as she noticed us coming in, with a new addition, her eyes widened and suddenly she was by the ravenette's side, hiding behind her. Tsunade eyed the blonde for a moment but ultimately turned her attention to the punk haired girl laying down.

Tsunade walked up to the unconscious pinkette. "Let's see what we've got here." Reaching out her hand, she placed her palm on Sakura's stomach, and closed her eyes. There was a pregnant pause as she worked. "Her chakra network is a mess, unstable to be precise," she commented after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes," Ino answered. "When I noticed it, I tried to set it back. Unfortunately, I still lack the training to do so," she added painfully.

"I see," was all Tsunade said, moving her hand away from Sakura and then proceeded to do hand signs. To Hinata her hands became a blur with each sign she made, and once finished, placed her hand back to where it was. This time it glowed a bright blue, reminding the Hyūga of that white haired man's that had pierced through the demon girl's chest. Seeing it made her body stiff, but she had to relax. _She's helping Sakura, not trying to kill her_ she reminded herself, making herself calm down. Suddenly, the glow disappeared from the older blonde's hand, instead surrounding itself around the pink haired girl for a second before it instantly vanished.

Brown eyes finally opened. "There, it's done," Tsunade announced, relief flooding Hinata completely. If it wasn't for Kyūbi standing next to her, she would have fallen down from weak legs. "With a couple days rest, she should be awake. Just to be safe..." The older woman reached into her haori's inside pocket and produced a torch. Bending down, she opened Sakura's right eye, revealing green emerald behind the lid. Shining the light on the orb, the pinkette's iris went small, and when she took it away, it went big. She did that twice more before she was satisfied and closed it again. When she went to the other eye that housed the girl's yellow orb, with the distinctive tomoe markings, Tsunade suddenly froze.

And for some reason Hinata had a bad feeling that she couldn't explain. Furrowing her brows, Tsuande closed the eye lid, and then turned her gaze to gauze wrapping on Sakura's left arm. Lifting it in her left hand, she raised her index finger, which was wrapped in a blue glow and ran it down the bandage. The white material was easily cut. The raven haired girl started to notice that guilt look again from Ino as the older woman stopped at the pinkette's uniformed sleeve. She eyed Sakura's dark-red arm coldly, and the bad feeling was getting worse, a chill going down her spine for the third or so time today. Finished with the appendage, she placed it down and then reached out, this time placing two fingers on the girl's forehead and once again closed her eyes.

It felt like an eternity, but couldn't have been only a minute or so, when Tsuande's eyes flew open, her fingers flying away from Sakura's forehead like she had been shocked and fell back to her side. Her hand suddenly becoming a closed fist. "Yamanka," the blonde finally spoke, her voice also growing cold like her eyes. "Is this girl what I think she is?"

A pregnant pause.

"...Yes," Ino replied silently.

Then another.

"Is that so."

And another.

Then, the bad feeling that had plagued Hinata quickly soon became reality. In a matter of seconds, Tsuande's hand suddenly burst blue, raising it high above her head, and went for Sakura's chest... with the intent to kill.

* * *

 **Well things turned out for the worse fast didn't it :(**

 **T** **hank you so very much for reading as always and please leave a review and tell me anything that can help improve the story or my writing. Also constructive criticism is also very appreciated.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


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